More and more companies are interested in introducing a mobility budget for their employees in order to give them more flexibility in their personal mobility in times of hybrid working models and thus to assert themselves as a modern employer in the war of talent against other companies with a sustainable benefit. The providers of such flexible mobility solutions have also discovered the increased interest. More providers are entering the market and promise to take the administrative burden off companies and offer them a simple solution. We have compared the different providers.
In the past, employers usually offered a company car or a job ticket if they wanted to support their employees in their professional or private mobility. However, digitalisation, hybrid work modes and a greater awareness of sustainability are changing the requirements and needs of employees. In people's everyday urban lives, more and more mobility options have also been added to the streets, such as bicycle leasing or car sharing.
If companies would like to take these diverse possibilities into account in their company employee benefits, this usually only goes hand in hand with greater effort. How can companies overcome this challenge? The answer: The best way is with a mobility budget that can bundle the multitude of offers.
Mobility budget solution providers promise to relieve companies of the administrative burden of company employee benefits and mobility offers and to simplify the associated processes. With the growing interest of companies in mobility budgets, the number of providers on the market is also increasing. They try to convince companies with different solutions. As a company, it is easy to lose track.
We provide clarity and have compared the different solutions and providers so that companies can make the right decisions for their team with enough information.
Good to know: There are providers who specialise in mobility budget solutions and providers who offer the mobility budget as part of their expense or benefits platform.
Create the work place of tomorrow with NAVIT. We are happy to support you with designing the best mobility solution for your company. Get in touch with us!
Contact us
The mobility budget is a monthly financial allowance for employees that they can use flexibly for various mobility services. The employer can define a range of mobility offers within which employees can combine and design their mobility as they wish. In this way, a mobility budget can be ideally aligned with individual needs.
Read more: the mobility budget explained
With a powerful mobility budget platform, companies can
For employers:
For employees:
The design of the mobility budget offers a wide range of options that are defined between employer and employees. The implementation in the company is facilitated by specialised providers who can deliver tailor-made solutions. To make the right choice for your company, it is important to consider the following components of the mobility budget:
Basically, employers can determine this themselves, depending on the possible financial framework of the company and how much they are willing to spend on their employees. Normally, the mobility budget is paid out to employees on a monthly basis.
The limit of 50 euros is interesting from a tax point of view, within which a mobility budget can be given to employees tax-free as a benefit in kind. Amounts above this are taxed at a flat rate of 30%.
Learn more about the mobility budget and taxes.
Our mobility experts at NAVIT would love to share their knowledge with you about the new mobility product. Feel free to get in touch with us!
Get infoThe way in which employees can pay with the mobility budget and how it is settled depends very much on the choice of platform and provider. Basically, there are three solutions:
Employees submit their privately paid expenses for mobility within the framework of the mobility budget in the form of invoices or tickets either to the employer or directly in a mobility budget app of a provider. Employees scan their receipts and tickets via the provider's app. The mobility expenses incurred are reimbursed to the employee in the following month via the salary statement. Mobility budget app providers try to automate this process as much as possible and optimise it for companies.
Which providers offer the mobility budget via invoice scanning & reimbursements?
Mobiko, Bonvoyo, SAP Concur, Probonio, LOFINO, Circula
The booking and payment of the individual mobility services with the mobility budget is done via the provider's own mobility budget app in which the mobility services are integrated. This requires a partnership between mobility providers and the app operator in which the mobility services and its payment systems are integrated into the app.
Which providers offer the mobility budget via an integrated mobility budget app?
NAVIT, FREE NOW for Business, Bonvoyo
Employees receive a virtual prepaid card on which the mobility budget is credited every month. Employees can use this card, for example, for public transport tickets, sharing vehicles or refuelling or charging their company or private car by paying with the card in the mobility provider's app. Some providers also offer integrated mobility services in their app, such as the Deutschlandticket or bicycle leasing.
Which providers offer the mobility budget via a prepaid card solution?
NAVIT, belmoto, SPENDIT, FREE NOW for Business
The tax treatment of the individual accounting methods must be taken into account. This influences not least the practical implementation of the mobility budget in the company and answers the question of which accounting method the company will ultimately choose. You can find out what you need to know about the taxation of the mobility budget at the end of the article or in this overview.
In principle, a mobility budget allows the use of all types of mobility. The employer can determine which forms of mobility are to be promoted and covered by the budget.
This gives the mobility budget a strong leverage effect with regard to sustainable mobility. If only sustainable options, such as public transport, cycling, shared or electric mobility, are promoted, the likelihood that they will be used preferentially increases. In practice, the offer of the individual mobility budget platform providers also influences the choice of available forms of mobility. With some providers, the mobility budget can be used worldwide.
These forms of mobility are available:
The mobility budget can be paid to employees as a benefit in kind (Sachbezug) in addition to their salary. The tax-free limit is currently 50 euros in 2023.
For companies, a "benefits in kind taxation scheme" means a significantly lower overall taxation. For employees, too, taking advantage of a benefit in kind has a tax advantage over a salary payment.
Read this comprehensive explainer about mobility budget taxation and find out how to choose the right tax scheme for your mobility budget.
The selection of the right mobility budget tool always starts with the question of what the tool actually has to be able to do and map.
These are just a few of the many questions that need to be answered on the way to an optimal corporate mobility strategy and the choice of a suitable mobility budget platform.
Every company has its own mobility strategy and needs a solution that is tailored to it. The mobility budget platform must provide answers to the different customer challenges of the company, fit into the existing IT infrastructure, be easy to set up and operate, and have the desired depth of functionality.
Not every mobility budget provider meets the necessary requirements. And not every provider is suitable for every mobility strategy for a very simple reason: almost every provider pursues its own product strategy, to which the further development of modules and functionalities is specifically geared.
The number of providers of mobility budget solutions has increased enormously in recent years. No wonder, in times of climate crisis and rising energy prices, more and more employees want sustainable and cost-effective mobility alternatives to company cars. In addition, since the COVID 19 pandemic and the establishment of hybrid or remote working models, the demand for flexible mobility offers and digital solutions is booming. And the momentum will continue.
For HR and benefits managers, this means: if you have a choice, you are spoilt for choice. NAVIT is the right partner here. We accompany your company on the way to an optimal mobility strategy and advise you on the selection of the appropriate mobility budget platform.
As one of the first large German companies, SAP has been offering its employees a mobility budget as an alternative to a company car since 1 April 2023. With around 17,000 vehicles, the software company has the largest company car fleet in Germany. A mobility budget appeals especially to young employees who are not interested in a company car. Many other DAX companies want to follow the trend and rely on a mobility budget.
There are also some good reasons for start-ups to rely on flexible mobility solutions. Many have already made the switch and are now saving time and money in the long term. This is how these start-ups have mastered the switch to a mobility budget.
Learn more about the NAVIT Mobility Budget Platform
Want to know more about the mobility budget and our solutions? Book a call with our mobility experts and receive a free assessment of your company's employee mobility.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest insights about our mobility solution products like the 49 eurojob ticket.
