Brightwell Payments Launches New Product, Brightwell Navigator, at CMA Shipping 2015

New payments platform simplifies global payroll distribution of cross-border payments for ship managers & owners.

Brightwell Payments today introduced its newest product, Brightwell Navigator, during the Connecticut Maritime Association Shipping 2015 Conference -- the largest commercial shipping association and conference in the US.

The Brightwell Navigator is a payments platform that simplifies global payroll distribution for ship owners and ship managers while providing crew members greater control over their wage distributions. The Brightwell Navigator product provides a more cost-effective and efficient solution for mass cross-border payments.

“We’ve experienced a tremendous amount of success within the cruise industry with our OceanPay® Visa® Prepaid Card program, but we quickly learned that a paycard solution alone falls short of the needs of the commercial shipping industry,” said Hal Ramakers, EVP of Product & Marketing at Brightwell Payments.

“We met with key players in the commercial shipping industry to better understand their process inefficiencies regarding global payroll distribution. Based on their guidance, we’ve built a technology platform that removes those inefficiencies in a way that dramatically increases crew satisfaction and welfare,” added Ramakers.

The Brightwell Navigator eliminates the burden of managing and distributing thousands of individual payments to crew around the globe. With Brightwell Navigator, those same cross-border payroll disbursements can be made through a batch-funding process with just one to two wires a pay period. The platform ties easily to ship manager’s existing payroll software and removes their need to manage large volumes of remittances.

Brightwell Navigator’s online portal and electronic data wallet provides crew members the freedom and flexibility to manage their finances 24/7. Crew members can select where they wish to distribute their wages (direct to bank account and/or their OceanPay Card), the amounts distributed to each account, and the transfer currency. Beneficiary bank account details and distribution amounts are managed directly by the crew member and can be changed at any time. The Brightwell Navigator provides crew a welcome level of control over their finances and positively impacts crew welfare.

Brightwell Payments’ existing maritime paycard product, the OceanPay Card, integrates seamlessly with the Brightwell Navigator. With the OceanPay Card, shipping companies can offer their crew members an additional method of receiving wages. The OceanPay Card allows shipping companies to reduce cash onboard while providing crew members with a financial tool that can be used to make purchases online and in-port, and perform one-off transfers to a bank account or for cash pick up at a retail location.

“The product was initially planned as a tool for the commercial shipping industry. However, as the product design and build progressed, we quickly saw that the Brightwell Navigator could be used as a cross-border payments solution by companies in a broad range of industries who manage geographically dispersed employee populations,” said Kenneth M. Goins, Jr., CEO of Brightwell Payments. “We will continue to market the product and partner with service providers to make this product available to companies outside of the maritime industry.”

Brightwell Payments is currently planning the implementation of the product with two companies for product launch in early Q2.

About Brightwell Payments

Brightwell Payments, Inc. is an international payments and technology company offering comprehensive, award-winning payment solutions for corporations and consumers. Its core mission is to deliver innovative solutions to niche markets seeking cost-effective payment methods coupled with excellent service. Brightwell Payments’ international maritime paycard program, the OceanPay Card (a 2015 Paybefore Awards Best-in-Category winner in the Outstanding Pay Solution: Platform category) is a proprietary, comprehensive prepaid card solution designed to mitigate the unique challenges and concerns of existing payroll processes faced by the maritime industry. The OceanPay Card program is currently offered on more than 200 ships worldwide across 60,000 crew members.

OceanPay Cards are issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.