Mobility Budget: Benjamin Giovanni (FREENOW for Business) takes stock

Why did you launch the Mobility Budget in France at the end of last year?

Benjamin Giovanni - There are several reasons for this. We have become a multimodal hub in 2021. We cover several modes of micro-mobility in the major cities where we operate. A ParisWe are the only company to offer the services of two major players in the electric scooters self-service. We've just integrated Dott, and we were already partners with Tier. We also offer electric scooters and the Sharenow electric car-sharing scheme. Not to mention Dott's electric bicycles, which we are integrating this month. So we really are a multimodal platform today. These two years of crisis have led to new mobility habits among the Frenchparticularly in the city. There is strong demand from residents, and therefore employees, to use the micro-mobility. It was also about meeting the needs of companies that want to stand out from the crowd, reinvent themselves in terms of benefits offered to their employees. Le recruitment, the talent retention have become crucial to the success of some companies, especially in the technology sector. So we need to be able to offer innovative benefits and to take into account the well-being of these employees. That's why we launched the Mobility BudgetA monthly allowance to be offered to employees for all their personal and home-to-work travel. As a mobility player, we had a role to play, since mobility is one of the five main benefits offered to employees today. 79% of companies have incorporated the well-being of travellers into their policy. 49% of employees give priority to an organisation that protects their health and well-being. The Mobility Budget is just that: an innovative, rare benefit that will enable companies to offer their employees a mobility advantage to improve their well-being, while at the same time reinforcing their positive employer brand image and strengthening their policy. CSRThis is because some of our services relate to soft mobility. Focusing on personal mobility for employees
was an obvious choice, because we really have something to offer that is credible and appealing.

So this is a new HR argument?

Benjamin Giovanni - Exactly. We position ourselves on the benefits offered to the employee. We always have, FREENOW for Business is a solution to facilitate business travel. And now, for the first time, we're going to enable companies to position themselves to take care of their employees' personal travel too. We're moving into a new area, not just for purchasing or travel managers, but also for HR managers, adding a new string to their bow.

Exactly who do you talk to? The mobility manager, human resources, a CSR manager?

Benjamin Giovanni - These different professions are increasingly linked, although this depends very much on the size of the company. Sometimes there's one person in charge of CSR initiatives within the company, but more often it's an in-depth subject that each business line deals with. At FREENOW, we have made a public commitment to be 100% net zero carbon by 2030, with a commitment to 50% by 2025. In the meantime, we offset the carbon footprint of non-electric vehicles every year.

What types of companies and employees is your offer aimed at?

Benjamin Giovanni - To all companies, especially those that put the well-being This is why it is so important for companies to keep their employees at the forefront, to face up to major challenges in terms of recruiting and retaining talent, and to differentiate themselves with new advantages. As far as mobility is concerned, the choice is greater in large cities, where there are alternatives to the private car. As far as employees are concerned, there is no particular target, as the changes in habits concern everyone, just like the CSR ambition.

What does Mobility Budget mean in practical terms for companies and end users?

Benjamin Giovanni - From the employee's point of view, this means new payment method directly integrated into theFREENOW application. Once the user has chosen their mode of transport to get from point A to point B, for example a VTC for a 20km home-work journey, or a bicycle or electric scooter for a shorter journey, they simply use the Mobility Budget made available by the company to pay for this journey, without having to pay in advance. From the company's point of view, the Mobility Budget takes the form of a administrator spaceThis is a very simple tool to set up. It's a very simple and quick tool to configure. It can also be adapted to suit travel policy, by placing restrictions on certain modes of transport, although the aim remains to offer users maximum choice and freedom in their personal time.

So personal travel is at the heart of this Mobility Budget?

Benjamin Giovanni - We already cover business travel, for more than 30,000 customers in Europe who place their trust in us. This is our core business. With our new service, we are providing a benefit that enables employees to pay for their personal travel. The company is going one step further by extending the offer to include personal travel, reinforcing its employer brand image with the provision of means of transport that enable employees to pay for their personal travel. soft mobility. And this takes into account the needs of commuting between the home and the officeThese are considered to be business or personal journeys, depending on the company. We have seen that habits in this area have changed with the crisis, and that many employees want to use their bikes more to get to the office, for example. The Mobility Budget will take this into account. In commuting, there is also the Sustainable Mobility Package, legally defined at up to 600 euros per year per employee, to encourage the use of soft mobility to get to the office. The Mobility Budget can be integrated into the Sustainable Mobility Package, but also goes further, by also including personal travel.

What was the driving force behind the launch of Mobility Budget: the crisis, the arrival of the mobility credit scheme, environmental awareness?

Benjamin Giovanni - It's a combination of these different parameters. Our approach stems from the changes that have taken place in recent years in the field of travel, with the arrival of new alternatives in increasing numbers in the city. Visit teleworking has slowed commuting, but people continue to travel, at least in their personal lives, and there is a desire to return to face-to-face contact within companies. The Mobility Budget is also one of the alternatives to public transport, which may have been shunned for health reasons in favour of the new alternatives I mentioned, which are increasingly in demand.

How does FREENOW fit in with the company's CSR policy?

Benjamin Giovanni - In addition to promoting various sustainable micro-mobility solutions, the company can promote the use of a player such as FREENOWwhich has taken clear commitments on carbon emissions. In addition, we support companies by providing them with the following services data on their carbon footprint according to the different modes of transport they use via FREENOW for Business. This can help them to reward employees who have chosen to behave virtuously. We are also setting up CSR challenges with certain customers, and we also give them a choice in how we offset our carbon footprint with them.

How has the crisis affected your vision of the market and your priorities?

Benjamin Giovanni - The economic crisis has of course had an impact on the VTC business, while accelerating the use of soft mobility. These changes are also linked to a growing awareness of CSR, and to less use of public transport, sometimes at the company's request. In short, the crisis has accelerated the transition to micro-mobility.

So it confirmed your ambition?

Benjamin Giovanni - Yes, absolutely. We were already determined to establish ourselves as a MaaS platform, multimodalThis is why Kapten has joined Freenow. That's why Kapten joined Freenow: to become multimodal, to extend our coverage not only geographically - we are now present in 16 countries and more than 150 cities - but also to offer different modes of transport and to constantly add to our range of services. We are also integrating different partners for each mode of transport. We will be adding a second partner for electric bikes, as well as for electric scooters and car-sharing. The aim is to make our multimodal offer as complete as possible.

What is your long-term vision for the integration of public transport?

Benjamin Giovanni - The aim will be to present the various options available to the user for getting from A to B, with journey times and fares, all within a single application, with a single payment method and a single loyalty programme.

Does the Mobility Budget interface with the travel policy?

Benjamin Giovanni - Yes, the tool can be integrated into the travel policy thanks to the administrator interface that we make available to the company. The company can define the services made available, prohibiting the use of scooters for commuting journeys, for example. As the Mobility Budget covers personal travel, there will be fewer restrictions. The aim is above all to offer freedom to the employee. On the professional side, the tool FREENOW obviously adapts to the company's mobility policy, which may impose time or geographical restrictions, for example on the booking of VTCs or electric vehicles. We also offer added value in terms of support for companies, with dedicated contacts to help them set up their accounts.

Will the offering change in the future?

Benjamin Giovanni - We develop it in different ways. The aim is to make it ever more intuitive for the user, and we are constantly working on our UX. We're constantly expanding the range of transport services listed, and the number of partners, to provide a complete multimodal offering. We are also listening to customer feedback to improve the tool, thanks to our team of developers across Europe.

What is the Mobility Budget's roadmap for the coming months?

Benjamin Giovanni - We'll be adding more and more partners. We do this almost every week in different European cities. This makes life easier for business travellers, who can use the same application to book their means of transport in Paris with one partner, and opt for another specific player in each of their destinations, since the players are not the same in every city. Travellers don't necessarily know which application they need to download to book a particular vehicle when they arrive in London or Munich. We do this work for them within our application, to simplify their journeys. That's why we're constantly expanding the number of partners and cities we cover.

• For more information on the Mobility Budget offer, click here