BRINGING BUSINESS TOGETHER

In our many years spent bringing people and business together, we’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible clients who have consistently pushed us to get better at what we do. We’re really proud of what we’ve helped businesses to achieve – and the huge impacts we can have upon the lives of millions of people across the UK when we work together.

Our approach is a simple one – we put people first. Whatever our clients’ goals, we approach them from the perspective of increasing their employee wellbeing & performance.

The Home Office

MANAGING WELFARE PAYMENT SERVICES FOR CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS


Sodexo have provided payment services to Asylum Seekers on behalf of the Home Office since 2000.

Originally a paper voucher solution, we introduced our first prepaid card, the Azure Card, in 2008. This was in response to a request from the Authority to provide a specific mechanism for the provision of support to Service Users under Section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act.

In 2015, the Authority requested that we develop a card solution for all Asylum Seekers in the UK. After a period of collaborative development, Sodexo were pleased to launch the Aspen Card in November 2016.

The Aspen service was fully rolled out to the entire Asylum Seeker population over a six-month period. By May 2017, it had superseded all other means of centralised payment.

Aspen is a prepaid Visa debit card that can be configured using a series of profiles to enable the Home Office to decide on the allowed functionality. For example, whether cards are ATM enabled or not, and if so to set the limit of funds that can be withdrawn.

This system allows Service Users to retain the same card throughout the lifecycle of their Asylum claim regardless of any change in the financial conditions of that claim. Aspen is also enabled with wallet capabilities. This allows the Home Office to ring-fence certain funds for specific purposes; for example, to be used only to pay for transport services.

Sodexo also provides additional services to the Authority to support them in their control and use of the Aspen service.

A secure Management Portal (‘SAM’) is made accessible to authorised Home Office users, allowing them to both order and issue cards as well as provide up to date balance and transactional data on a card by card basis.

Sodexo and the Home Office share secure and direct interfaces allowing for real time card and balance management. In addition, Sodexo also provides an Aspen-specific Helpdesk to answer cardholder queries and deal with complaints or suspected incidents of fraud.

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