Rare saves 2-3 days per month by syncing transactions to Excel
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About Rare
The Rare organization is committed to conservation of the Earth by addressing key issues such as climate change, overfishing, unsustainable land use and more. Rare takes a people-centered approach to help shift behaviors that can drive benefits to communities and nature worldwide.
“Before, I had to download everything into Excel and then upload into our expense reporting system. This was done at random times and sometimes when I was very busy it may be 2-3 weeks before I get to it. With the PEX/ Databasics integration, this is done automatically within a few days.”
The challenge
Catherine Stewart, Director of Finance, has been with Rare for over 15 years. With offices in 10 different countries, managing the expenses of all the different programs can be challenging. Rare initially used credit cards to keep track of spending but as the company grew they were faced with the issue of banks not supporting credit cards in certain office locations particularly their newly opened Mozambique office.
Whether it was due to regulations or risk within a certain country, Catherine needed to find an alternative solution for the local teams to use in lieu of a standard credit card but struggled to find a solution that fit her specific needs. “We started looking around at prepaid programs with different banks but there were guarantees needed for spend amounts, high card minimums or minimum bank account balances. These were not good options for a small office of 10 people starting in Mozambique.”
The solution
Catherine found PEX’s prepaid solution “almost too easy.” PEX was able to fit the needs of Rare with no minimums and still operate in countries that may be out of scope for more traditional channels.
The teams saw immediate benefits especially around security and reporting. Each user was able to create a unique pin for use as well as individual account dashboards and reporting. The local teams gained greater control and insight into their expenditures. As Catherine says, “With credit cards, it didn’t work like that – we had multiple cards to hand out but it was a company credit card and there was just one bill. [With PEX] I see our staff going in and double checking charges or reviewing card balances.”
Another great benefit is the PEX/Databasics partnership and API integration. Catherine is able to save hours of time and remove the manual process of downloading data. “Before, I had to download everything into Excel and then upload into our expense reporting system. This was done at random times and sometimes when I was very busy it may be 2-3 weeks before I get to it. With the PEX/ Databasics integration, this is done automatically within a few days.” Additionally, PEX and Databasics has helped ensure that local currency transitions come through. Despite the card being funded in USD denominations, local staff are able to view activity in their currency to ensure transactions are accurate.
Adopting PEX has helped Catherine better manage the needs of a growing global team. PEX offered transparency with data access to both employees and administrators, allowing for improved tracking of expenses. With the PEX/Databasics integration, Catherine can see how funds were being used and how often she needed to transfer money to better budget for her teams. Not only that but Catherine found the overall interface easier to manage. As she says, “It is so easy to manage – I can instantly change someone’s fund availability from $2000 to $0 in a matter of minutes. [PEX’s] dashboard is so easy to navigate and user-friendly.” PEX cards offered greater flexibility and transparency that traditional credit cards lacked.
Catherine plans to roll out PEX in more international offices as Rare continues to grow to new locations and promote its mission to drive social change for people and the planet.
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