HealthNow – Revolutionising Employee Health Benefits

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, innovation often takes center stage in addressing the complex challenges that individuals face in accessing quality health services. HealthNow, a company that embarked on its journey just three years ago, is a shining example of such innovation. Their mission? To bring healthcare back into the hands of the people.

A vision anchored in accessibility

HealthNow was born from the realisation that the prohibitive cost of healthcare stands as the primary barrier to individuals seeking and utilising the healthcare they need. With this critical issue in mind, HealthNow set forth on a mission to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyone by unlocking the ability of organisations to seamlessly contribute to health and wellness of their employees in real time.

The employer’s stake in employee health

One of the key insights that sets HealthNow apart is their belief that employers are the primary beneficiaries of their employees’ health. After all, an employee’s well-being is intricately linked to an employer’s productivity and success. When an employee falls ill, it doesn’t just cost a day’s pay; it disrupts project timelines, delays deliverables, and generates missed deadlines. Employers, therefore, have a vested interest in ensuring their employees remain healthy and have access to healthcare when they need it. Wide ranging research also underpins the positive impact on recruitment, retention and productivity as a new generation of employees put a significant weighting on the benefits offering as part of the total remuneration consideration.

Challenging the status quo

Traditional company-provided health benefits often come with limitations, restricting employees to specific healthcare providers or imposing lengthy and cumbersome reimbursement processes. This is where HealthNow steps in with their game-changing solution.

In partnership with Change Financial, HealthNow is set to formally launch in December, with 4,500 cards going live. This innovative program offers an easily accessible payment card, loaded by employers with a pre-allocated amount of funds that can be added to, or updated in real time. Employers can selectively authorise approved healthcare categories, empowering employees to access the services they need, visit trusted providers, and pay as easily as they would for groceries via the normal payment network.

A vision of preventative healthcare

HealthNow doesn’t just offer a payment solution; it champions a fundamental shift in how employers view and support employee health. Their focus on preventative healthcare, rather than reactive solutions, ensures employees receive benefits tailored to their diverse needs.

HealthNow’s program is adaptable, making it an ideal solution for companies with large and diverse teams. The program stands out because it benefits a 20-year-old in the same way it does a 60-year-old, putting the power in the hands of employees to choose where they spend their allocated healthcare funds. As the team at HealthNow say “nobody knows your employees like they do”.

The success of the HealthNow program lies in its simplicity and the autonomy it grants to employees. Utilisation of the program measures its effectiveness, highlighting a growing preference among employees for known and trusted healthcare providers. With low utilisation of current employer Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), HealthNow’s approach ensures employees can choose healthcare solutions that align with their preferences and needs.

A global outlook

The imminent launch in New Zealand will see HealthNow become Change’s first Prepaid card program client in New Zealand. With an initial distribution of over 4,500 cards, this is just the beginning with the future of HealthNow filled with possibilities and transformative potential.

Looking ahead, HealthNow is poised for international expansion and they’re about to commence a capital raise to support these expansion plans. HealthNow is driven by a powerful team, with their executives, board members, Chairman and company advisors, all being a collective force of successful entrepreneurs, business leaders and CEOs, who are all passionately driving the HealthNow proposition.

By championing preventative healthcare and empowering employees, they’re revolutionising the employee benefits landscape. For investors seeking an opportunity to be part of this remarkable journey, HealthNow is a company to watch.

Change Delivers Cards and Buy Now Pay Later capabilities for Philippine’s largest bank

A key customer of Change, the Philippines’ largest bank, BDO Unibank, Inc. (“BDO”), have integrated many of Change’s Vertexon payment solutions to issue and maintain their card programs and merchants. BDO also utilises PaySim, Change’s payment simulation and testing solution.

BDO is the Philippines’ largest bank with total assets of US$70 billion and one of the widest distribution networks across the country consisting of more than 1,400 operating branches and over 4,400 ATMs nationwide.

A senior vice president of BDO shared the following testimony:

“We have been using Change’s solutions to operate and expand our credit card products and offerings. Over that time we have grown our credit card portfolio to the largest in the Philippines.
Change’s staff are very knowledgeable, professional and cooperative throughout each project. They have helped us bring many innovative and flexible payments solutions such as Buy Now Pay Later and Major Purchases capabilities to market quickly.”

Senior Vice President of BDO

BDO on the latest version of Vertexon

In October 2021, Change completed BDO’s card platform upgrade to the latest version of Vertexon. This upgrade offers BDO the latest card payment technology, including BNPL features.

BDO’s Credit Card Systems Team commented: “We had a very successful upgrade to the latest Vertexon platform version with the upgrade experience seamless for such a major undertaking. The new version added expanded features and at the same time carried over bespoke business functions that give us market leadership. Change’s technical team has time and again proven their proficiency and allowed for an efficient project
implementation.”