Merchant integration and expenses module for volunteer payment service

该项目将支付和金融技术结合在一起，为志愿者提供安全和方便的支付，帮助弱势群体在封锁期间和更远的地方进行必要的购买。我们在4月份开发了vHelp服务原型，并利用Innovate UK的拨款开发了一款全自动应用程序。在目前的服务版本中，志愿者必须为他们所进行的任何购物买单，然后在送货完成后获得报销。在vHelp应用程序项目期间，我们发现慈善机构和志愿组织面临的一个主要问题是管理和处理志愿者的费用--这给志愿者经理带来了相当大的行政负担，成本高昂，并阻碍了一些团体参与志愿服务。转向远程工作加剧了这一问题，因为管理在各部门之间流动的文书工作非常困难。我们还确定，志愿组织和地方当局更希望志愿者不要用自己的钱购物，他们希望避免志愿者掏腰包，即使是在很短的时间内。这个项目的目标是：1.建立一个志愿者费用支付模块，以减少组织的管理和成本，并符合目的(可访问和安全)，确保所有志愿者申请费用的顺利体验。2.创建一个解决方案，将代金券集成到APP中，让志愿者无需使用自己的资金即可支付购物费用。这个项目的结果可能会让我们修改目前的商业模式，事实证明，这对我们的目标市场--志愿组织--具有挑战性。志愿部门承受着巨大的财政压力，他们可能需要承担的任何费用都会对服务造成重大的采用障碍。这将增强我们的竞争力，并增加我们产品的粘性。费用支付模块为新的收入来源和增长途径开辟了机会。我们目前正在与志愿/第三部门合作，但一旦我们的解决方案稳定下来，我们将扩大到社会护理部门，因为照顾老年人或弱势群体的照顾者可以使用这项服务。我们的短期重点是英国，然而，我们已经收到了欧洲国家的兴趣，他们正在处理Covid19，并面临着类似的付款困难。一旦我们的技术在英国建立起来，我们将探索国际扩张。目前的社会环境鼓励人们出于经济可持续性和社会责任的原因依赖志愿人员和社区支持，这项服务在这两个方面都产生了积极影响。

This project brings together payments and financial technology to enable safe and convenient payments for volunteers helping vulnerable people with essential purchases during lockdown and beyond. We developed the vHelp service prototype in April and developed a fully automated app with a grant from Innovate UK. In the current version of the service volunteers have to pay for any shopping they do and then get reimbursed after delivery is completed. During the vHelp app project we identified a major problem for charities and voluntary organisation is managing and processing volunteers expenses - it places a considerable admin burden on volunteer managers, is costly and discourage some groups from volunteering. The move to remote working increased the problem as it is very difficult to manage paperwork moving around departments. We also established that voluntary organisations and local authorities prefer that volunteers do not use their own funds for shopping and they want to avoid volunteers being out of pocket, even for short periods. This project aims to: 1. Build a volunteer expenses payment module to reduce admin and costs for organisations and is fit for purpose (accessible and secure) ensuring a smooth experience for all volunteers claiming expenses. 2. Create a solution that integrates a voucher into the app to allow volunteers to pay for shopping without using their own funds. The results of this project may allow us to modify the current business model, which has proven challenging for our target market, voluntary organisations. The voluntary sector is under immense financial pressure and any cost they may need to incur creates a significant adoption barrier for services. This will enhance our competitiveness and increase the stickiness of our offering. The expenses payment module opens up opportunities for new revenue streams and growth routes. We are currently working with the voluntary/third sector but, once our solution is stable we will expand to the social care sector, as the service can be used by carers looking after elderly or vulnerable people. Our short term focus is the UK, however we've already had interest from European countries dealing with Covid19 and facing similar difficulties with payments. We will explore international expansion once our technology is established in the UK. The current social context is encouraging the reliance on volunteers and community support for economical sustainability and social responsibility reasons and this service delivers positive impact on both fronts.