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‍Start-up provides tax-free benefits for employees

During the pandemic, the Berlin-based company Regional Hero started with vouchers. It now provides an infrastructure for cash cards. Regional companies benefit from this.

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How many self-written vouchers à la “Go out to eat together once a year” are given away — and never redeemed? With the B-Card, the recipient can simply choose for themselves whether they want to redeem it at their favorite café around the corner, for a visit to a museum or a beauty day.

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Berlin-based start-up perfects employee motivation

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The start-up Regional Hero offers credit cards that entrepreneurs can use to credit their employees with a 50-euro bonus. At the same time, the regional economy is supported.

Regional Hero (...) the makers of Helfen.Berlin, who encouraged the purchase of vouchers for Berlin stores in spring, are now pursuing a new idea: With THE B Card, companies should give their employees vouchers for favorite Berlin stores, with tax breaks.

The Corona Lockdown in Spring 2020 has put many restaurants, cafés and retailers, artists and cultural providers into existential hardships. Some regular customers quickly came up with the idea of supporting their favorite stores by buying vouchers immediately...

Pascal Schreiber knows how difficult it was for a long time to convince small to medium-sized companies to go digital. “In local retailers in particular, it was only the corona crisis that gave rise to a much greater understanding of this,” says the managing director and co-founder of Regional Hero, “and we want to build on this.”

Fill school bags and help local businesses

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School enrollment in Berlin: fill the school bag and help local companies... Instead of giving money, it is possible to use vouchers. However, these are often limited to individual stores. For some time now, there has also been the B-Card, which can be used not only in one but in many companies in Berlin, from museums to shops.

... the Helfen.Berlin corporate initiative of... Regional Hero GmbH honored

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For their outstanding social commitment, Capgemini GmbH in the category “Companies with more than 50 employees” and the Helfen.Berlin initiative of Paperplain GmbH, I LIKE VISUALS GmbH and Regional Hero GmbH were today awarded the Berlin Company Prize in the category “Companies with less than 50 employees.”

Hard times lie behind retailers and no one knows what the future will bring. Corona has shaken up entire industries and sales in most shops plummeted. While everyone is aware of the lamentations of the big players in this area, the small regional shops are often forgotten.

The B-card

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“The aim is for the money to stay in the city, especially in difficult times,” explains Pascal Schreiber, head of Regional Hero. The idea: When people buy vouchers from large mail-order companies or chains, the money goes to some giant companies that don't care much about Berlin itself. “It's different when I shop locally and support people who dare to implement their own ideas.”

Stay focused and respond quickly to opportunities and challenges.

Charity for the neighborhood: If you want to sniff around the corner at the shop next year, it's best to give away a few vouchers for your favorite bar in the neighborhood at the festival. Of course, it also works across borders with the B card. Save your locals!

Corona has threatened the existence of many companies. It is often the small shops in big cities that come under pressure when revenue falls because no large corporation is backing it up. The start-up Regional Hero wants to help and offers traders in the regional economy a meeting point where they can present new campaigns and offers at a glance.

The purchase of vouchers was thus able to support favorite restaurants and cafés, especially during the lockdown. In the meantime, the non-profit platform, the DAS B-CARD, has launched, which supports the hospitality industry in the long term and can be saved from insolvency.

Sipping a cappuccino at their favorite café on the corner, rummaging in the bookstore on the market square or in the boutique in the neighborhood: During these lonely Corona days, many city dwellers whose everyday lives are particularly changing dream of finally being able to stroll through their neighborhood again.

On the Road with the Evening Show

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Now it's here, The B-Card!

Good morning Berlin presenter Tim Koschwitz visited the makers, helfen.berlin. The colleagues from the evening show were there with the camera.

The “Marjellchen” restaurant in Charlottenburg is also struggling to survive in times of corona. The Colleagues from Zibb visited their favorite place in Berlin. Lydia Mikiforow from the “Early Morning Show” was there on rbb 88.8.

With the DAS B-CARD, we become Berlin and Brandenburg's unofficial means of payment and support local retail, gastronomy and culture.

“Are you looking for a gift idea? Is it supposed to be something Berlinish? That's when you get to know the B-Card.”

Lockdown, curfew, social distancing rules: Many retailers and restaurateurs are worried about their existence this year. To support them, a campaign to save retailers is taking place on Friday, October 30: Prenzl Late Night.