When your business is built on connections and your clients are around the world, extensive international travel is inevitable. We spoke with José Neif Jury about his public relations business and how Centtrip supports its operations.
Hi José Neif, can you tell us a little about Falcon Corporate Services and what it does?
We build bridges between the east and the west – from Asia and the Middle East on one side, to Latin America on the other – because, historically, there’s been very little connection between these two parts of the world. That’s our niche.
For example, if an Arab government minister wants to take a trade delegation to Argentina they may not know the best people to talk to on any particular industry sector. They may not have the contacts or the language fluency to facilitate those introductions, but we have the skills and contacts. And, if necessary, we’ll make a thousand phone calls to find the right people. We make the introductions and then we do the post-event follow-up.
We have a core team of 20 staff and hire other skills as required, on a temporary project basis, from our network. We can have up to 100 temporary employees and associates working on projects around the world.
How does Centtrip support your business?
The biggest problem for an organisation like mine has, historically, been payments. We need to engage people all over the world, pay their fees and fund their expenses for the project. We often need to move quickly and traditional wire transfers can be too slow.
So, we use Centtrip prepaid Mastercards for our own international travel and to fund and pay the associates we hire.
We have people working all round the world. If someone in Las Vegas, or Singapore needs something at 3am on a Sunday morning, I can provide 24/7 support. With the Centtrip app, I can instantly transfer money, in any currency, onto their card or I can make a wire transfer payment. Centtrip gives us better control over spending and faster delivery of the money.
Having a Centtrip Mastercard, which is accepted anywhere in the world, allows us to be truly global. For example, there’s a lawyer in Uruguay that I only use occasionally. I can post him a Centtrip card with a zero balance. Then, when I need something, I call him and say use the card. I can instantly transfer funds onto the card to cover his fees and project expenses. Sending him money in any other way would be much slower and much more expensive.
Centtrip's high card and transaction limits are very important for Falcon, too. When one business class ticket from Singapore to Miami, or from Dubai to Buenos Aires, can cost more than $10,000, we need high card limits just for day-to-day expenses.
Centtrip is now involved in pretty much everything we do internationally. It’s become a trusted partnership and I’m super happy with them.
What is the biggest benefit you see from using Centtrip in your business?
Empowerment is the key to everything. When people know the company has their back, they feel empowered and motivated and they get things done. But, if you ask them to pay from their own pocket and say you’ll reimburse them, that's a different story. With the Centtrip prepaid card, they know we have their backs.
So, the biggest benefit of using Centtrip is the empowerment of my people—having them able to work, without hesitation anywhere in the world, able to deal with situations as they arise and still perform as expected.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Yes, the Centtrip team is super important. Compared to other card suppliers and banks, the quality of the team is remarkable. I deal with many banks, card issuers and payment companies around the world and Centtrip is light years ahead of everybody else, just because of its people.
José Neif, thank you for your time.
