Meet our International Operations Manager

If anyone can attest to the rapid changes in mobility over the last decade, it is Tom van Berge Henegouwen. One of XXImo’s long-serving employees, Tom has witnessed the evolution in consumer behaviour, company priorities, and regulatory changes, and he has been at the centre of XXImo’s growth from a payment card to a robust mobility management platform and licenced Electronic Money Institution and payment services provider.

But Tom has his sights set on more. Recently joining XXImo’s International Expansion team, Tom focuses on business development and sees XXImo becoming the future leader in mobility throughout Europe. In his role, he takes part in senior accounts conversations with an emphasis on implementation, so he understands the mobility demands and challenges that companies are facing today.

He recently offered his unique perspective on the transformation in mobility and at XXImo over the last decade, as well as the direction he sees ahead for the industry over the next 10 years.

“XXImo built an impressive system to process transactions. Costs like maintenance do not change whether you have one transaction, or millions, running through it. To take full advantage of the system we’ve built, we need to scale up. We can accomplish this by pursuing the same strategic path and offering the same value we’ve proven to deliver in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in more countries. More potential customers mean more users.

But international expansion does come with challenges. As tax rulings and legislation are so different per country, it is not a simple copy-paste when entering a new country. It would help XXImo a lot if this would be more harmonised in the EU. As is not expected very soon, XXImo will have to at least partly reinvent the wheel country by country.”

“The themes we hear most often are 1) data, 2) planning and 3) expense claim management. Now we have achieved that and most of mobility payments can be done on open -loop, the important thing is to connect trip data to the payment. It is not enough for the customer to know that EUR 10,00 has been paid, but the customer needs to know the trip’s origin, destination, and distance. This is mainly because large companies, with 100 or more employees, will have to report on their CO2 emissions from 1 January 2024.

As for the planning part, customers often request a planning tool that can help their employees choose not only the fastest or cheapest, but also the greenest way to travel.

Lastly, expense claim management comes up frequently. This is not really new, but it looks like it’s becoming more and more important to have the three topics mentioned here combined in one product.”

“The shift to open-loop payments in public transport and EV charging is important as we are moving away from fossil fuels. An international service offering is also important. Large, multinational companies will need one partner to work with in more countries as integrations with HR systems become more prominent.”

“Mobility will become more and more fluid over the next years. Owning a car is not something the younger generations are aiming for. Hybrid working is the new standard. You should be able to choose how you commute or what mode of transport to use for your business trips. Integration of functionalities like “near-me” – the ability to see available services on a map based on your location – are the new standard. Offers from companies like XXImo will shift from mainly payments to total support for the customers. More integrations with HR and financial systems will become the standard.

I am still convinced open-loop on Visa is the best solution for mobility in total. In 10 years, I hope we are the market leader in Europe (and maybe even beyond).”

“Absolutely! I have done so many different things over the past decade. When I started, I didn’t have any experience in the payment industry and IT. Today, I understand more complex IT projects and can work with different specialists. I know how the payment industry works, how data exchange works, and many more things. I am very lucky I had the chance to step into this world when I did and experience the innovations first hand.”