WEX Wrap-Up: August 2016

Another month in the books at the global leader in corporate payment solutions, and as in months passed, we would like to share with you some of the news and views from each of our business lines—Fleet, Travel, and Health—as well as some of our biggest announcements from around the world. Here is this month’s WEX Wrap-Up for August 2016.

Reminder: WEX Corporate Payments on Twitter

Last month, we expanded our social presence by announcing new pages on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep followers up-to-date on all the latest payments news and insights.

Learn more: Follow WEX Corporate Payments on LinkedIn, and @WEXCorpPayments on Twitter.

News: WEX Australia Extends Agreement with Helloworld through New Deal with QBT for WEX Virtual Payments Solution

On August 3, 2016, WEX announced that WEX Australia has extended its master agreement with the Helloworld Group (ASX: HLO) by signing a new contract with QBT, a market leading travel management company (TMC), to provide a virtual payments solution.

“We are thrilled to announce the extension of our agreement with the Helloworld Group to now include QBT, a market leader in the travel management company space,” said Jim Pratt, SVP and GM for Virtual Payments, WEX Inc. “QBT is our first customer to use an integration tool through its Global Distribution System to implement the VCC solution, and streamline its hotel bill back and credit card reconciliation process – which is an enormous benefit for a TMC.”

Read the entire press release to learn more.

WEX Fleet

• Back to School Safety Tips: The buses are back, the school zone speed zones are reactivated, and it’s as good of time as any to remind your drivers of the precautions they need to take to keep children safe. Here are four tips to stay safe in school zones.
• The Electric Truck: With electric cars now a reality, Tesla announced phase two of its plans—electric buses and heavy duty trucks. Expected to be unveiled in 2017, learn more about the future of electric vehicles, and how the road could be remarkably different 25 years from now.
• Dealing with Road Rage: According to AAA, 80 percent of drivers say they have expressed anger, aggression or road rage at least once in the past year. What are the most common habits of angry drivers? What are some tips to settle yourself down in the case someone cuts you off? Learn more in Tips for Dealing with Road Rage.

Whitepaper: Owner-Operators: Trucking is Their Business

The work of a truck owner-operator is all encompassing. In addition to driving they take on all the responsibilities associated with running a business. They must keep the truck running, keep customers happy, negotiate with outside vendors, keep accurate books and handle all problems that come their way. In the white paper, Owner-Operators: Trucking Is Their Business, WEX Fleet One looked at some of the common challenges faced by:

• The company driver making the transition to owner-operator
• The owner-operator leasing to a company
• The independent, well-established owner-operator building success

WEX Index

With the lowest Labor Day retail fuel prices since 2004, and with the summer driving season in the rearview mirror, prices are more than likely heading lower. But with hurricane season, fuel spec mandates, and decreased demand season ahead, learn more about what to expect in the August WEX Fuel Index.

WEX Travel

• Travel-as-a-Service: An increasing amount of companies are exploring the subscription model for travel services, but the question remains: Could subscription based travel services really work? WEX Travel takes a deeper look at the rise and potential successes of subscription model travel here.
• Hotels and Big Data: Hotels know their customers in an almost intimate way: they know what their customers order and whether they spend at the bar, restaurant or on room service; how many towels they use and whether they need extra pillows and a firm mattress; who shares their bed. With all this information, how are hotels using it to better adapt to their customers?
• Americans Embracing Global Travel: Although less than half of all Americans have a passport, economic, technical and political factors are all driving an increase in international travel among this group. Learn more in Americans Going Beyond Borders.
• The Sharing Economy and Business Travel: Travel policies are expanding to allow business travelers to take advantage of services such as Uber and Airbnb for business travel. As these new apps take business travel by storm, learn what you can expect within the coming months, as well as how long it will take for these apps to become embedded in the business travel world in the WEX Travel Blog, Are Business Travelers Entrenched in the Sharing Economy?

WEX Health

• Open Enrollment and HSAs: With open enrollment planning season arriving for employers, benefits managers, and other health benefit stakeholders, now is the time to get communications initiatives in line to help employees make better decisions come open enrollment. One of the biggest talking points that should be discussed is the health savings account, or HSA. Here are three things employees need to know about HSAs, a guide for employees looking to use HSAs for retirement savings, and five ways to improve upon your current open enrollment initiatives.
• Transparency a Continued Goal for States and Healthcare Organizations: The movement toward price transparency appears to be gaining steam throughout the healthcare industry. Due to moves to HDHPs, more and more consumers are demanding transparency, but who’s giving it to them? Learn more about the push for transparent pricing.

Webcast 9/27: Open Enrollment and the Importance of HSAs

With Open Enrollment planning upon us, the Healthcare Trends Institute is proud to bring you the latest on possibly the most valuable benefit you can offer to supplement healthcare and retirement savings – an HSA – and how to successfully implement one.

Join William Stuart, Director of Strategy and Compliance at Benefit Strategies LLC, and Jason Cook, VP of Healthcare Emerging Market Sales at WEX Health, as they discuss the importance and benefits of incorporating an HSA into a long-term savings plan, along with insights, outlook, and best practices on the continuing growth of HSAs.

WEX Health Introduces Everything Open Enrollment

WEX Health recently launched a new initiative, Everything Open Enrollment™, to help further educate its network of Partners as they communicate health and employee benefit information related to open enrollment. This initiative is an extension of WEX Health’s Partner Central portal and simplifies access to extensive open enrollment resources that will aid in a more successful open enrollment season. Weekly “E-lerts”, among other key features, help Partners and employers meet important open enrollment deadlines and keep them informed of helpful resources. In addition, the EOE Lunchbox Lesson™ series – which features WEX Health team members and industry leaders as lesson facilitators – offers webcast training on key open enrollment topics.