35 years on from their beginning, Ahmad Tea holds onto the same core value: they wouldn’t produce a single blend that the Chairman himself wouldn’t drink at home with his family. As they continue to grow across more than 90 countries around the world, they need a way to stay in control of expense management. With prepaid company cards that can be used all over the world and an online platform to monitor team spending in real time, Equals Money is here to help Ahmad Tea manage their business finances so they can get back to what’s important: their business.
Quality tea is at the heart of everything Ahmad Tea does. Amir Bagheri, Head of Channel Strategy, says about the tea, “We don’t tamper with the quality. And we sell the same thing throughout time as well. A cup of English Breakfast made with our tea – whether you made it 20 years ago, today, or in 30 years down the line, will deliver the same taste”. Not only is Ahmad Tea a global company operating in times of unprecedented change and instability, but they also want to balance their growth with continuing to produce a high quality product. Their Equals Money account means they don’t need to waste time worrying about their business finances.
“We really needed a service provider and a platform to put in a robust process so we could actually support [employees] but also put in robust controlled measures for the actual finance and administration of the overall business as well”. - James Clark, Director of Finance at Ahmad Tea
Ahmad Tea uses their Equals Money cards in nearly 90 countries, which means their employees can spend all over the world. They can then keep track of employee spending on a centralised system so they don’t have to worry about losing money over unaccounted for spending or difficulties reconciling expenses.
In addition to control over their team, Ahmad Tea also wants to be able to analyse how their business is spending. For James, their finance platform needs two key things: “[F]irst of all security, we need to be cognisant that all our transactions are secure. We need to put in solid control measures for each of those departments and teams, but we also need insights and analysis with that sort of business spend as well”. An account with Equals Money gives them the security and analytics they need to stay in control of their business expenses. We provide secure cards that are easily monitored and blocked if necessary, and for analytics, James can download spending reports from the platform.
An account with Equals Money offers Ahmad Tea a number of solutions for their business spending. For one, they can give their team prepaid company cards to use all over the world. Employees can then take spending into their own hands by requesting more funds when they’re low, pause and resume cards if they’re worried they’ve misplaced theirs, or even check their PIN if they’ve forgotten it. Managers can then respond to top-up requests, pause and block cards, and monitor budgets. Employees can also upload and annotate photos of receipts to make reconciliation that much easier.
James says, “One of the biggest benefits it’s given the business is that department managers and individual travellers are empowered to get on with doing the day-to-day running of the business rather than having to go through bureaucratic processes to get things paid for or access to things”. In addition to the control and accountability offered by the platform, they also get an expert account manager to guide them every step of the way. Equals Money helps Ahmad Tea to operate around the world without extra hassle around managing their team’s finances.
“From the beginning our Equals Money account manager was absolutely fantastic, ... incredibly accessible to us and led us all the way through the process.” - James Clark
Ahmad Tea also benefits from the ease of use that comes with the Equals Money online platform. They don’t have time to be dealing with a platform that isn’t intuitive or makes managing expenses complicated. James explains, “I suppose the biggest selling point for Equals Money for me really is it’s giving the user something that’s easy to use. The mobile platform is excellent. [Employees] can use it wherever they are. From a sort of control and accountability point of view, it’s second to none”. With our easy-to-use app and platform, your team can hit the ground running and get back to business. Equals Money is easy to use and lets Ahmad Tea focus on more important things, like growing their business.
“With Equals Money, having a service that allows us to focus on the big picture and not really dwell too much time dealing with our expenses from these travels is definitely a plus. It just allows us to be looking ahead and to be focusing on what we need to be focusing on, which is to do the best to support our partners so that our consumers around the world get the best tea.” - Amir Bagheri, Head of Channel Strategy
The key to Ahmad Tea’s success has been how they continue to grow and change whilst maintaining the quality of their tea. Amir says, “Versatility is around adapting – around not necessarily offering the same campaign or product to everyone. This type of tea is different in this part of the world; therefore, we will give you the type of tea that we know your consumers will appreciate”. With Equals Money, Ahmad Tea can onboard employees quickly, and however quickly their business continues to grow, the Equals Money platform will grow with them. Equals Money gives them the freedom to grow and change knowing they can count on controlling their business finances.
Equals Money is here to make expense management easy for your business, however big or small it may be. With prepaid company cards and an online platform and mobile app alongside them, Equals Money gives you better control, accountability, and security over team spending. We’re here to make money management simple so you can get back to what really matters: your business.
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