Over the last few decades, there has been a considerable shift in the way we view and interact with mobility. Although mobility is ultimately still about getting from point A to B, there is much more to the topic.

In light of urbanisation, factors such as growing environmental concerns to technological developments have shifted the conversation around mobility. Now, companies are becoming increasingly aware that their approach to the subject needs to be evaluated. Accordingly, they are considering the social and environmental implications mobility can have for employees and the business itself. From the impact of polluting to the stress of business and private trips, companies are placing more emphasis on alternative types of mobility.

The traditional way an organisation would compensate for an employee’s freedom to move from A to B is through a company car. However, with digitalisation and a wide range of transport options to choose from, a new alternative, the Mobility Budget, has been introduced. According to Skipr, a mobility budget allows staff to exchange their car or their right to a company car for a flexible private allowance. Once allocated, the employee will have the freedom to spend it on any kind of mode of transport.

A clear advantage of a mobility budget is that the market for alternative mobility solutions has not yet been seized. Even if the concept of this budget is rather new, companies need to provide fresh benefits to retain staff and acquire new talent. By being ahead of the curb, this will demonstrate that the organisation is forward thinking and environmentally aware. Therefore, by offering a flexible mobility budget as a benefit to staff, companies will actively encourage more sustainable mobility behaviour whilst also saving corporate mobility costs.

Providing this budget benefits both the company and the employees. For the former, handling the technical and administrative aspects of this expense is a straightforward process. Not only are there tax algorithm systems that can differentiate between personal and professional invoices on a country level, but accounting solutions also mean that all employee invoices are automatically forwarded to the accounting system each month. For the latter, they will have flexibility in their mode of transport with business related and personal commuting both covered.

In practical terms, there are a range of tools helping to put the idea of a mobility budget into action. For employers, solutions such as Mobiko enable corporates to integrate the Mobility Budgets smoothly into their systems, making it easy to make sure employees settle their mobility accounts and are regularly reimbursed. For employees, Moveasy (a Software as a Service created by Mobly, a Baloise backed start-up) is also a great tool that consolidates all mobility needs in a single app. Instead of having different apps for each type of transport, users can choose and book their trip on one platform. Thus, supportive tools such as Mobiko and Moveasy, prove further why companies should be introducing a mobility budget. 

Although mobility budgets are still in the early stages of adoption, it is clear that they will be a thriving concept in the near future. From flexibility for both employees and companies to encouraging sustainability, this employee benefit should be on your radar. At Baloise our vision for mobility is to enable people to move from A to B, in a safe, convenient, trusted and sustainable way. Mobility budgets are just one example of ways we can change user behaviour for the better.