Driven by his personal passion for yachting, Privat 3 Money founder Reda Bedjaoui is well aware of the intricacies of yacht financial management. Determined to provide a more efficient solution for yacht owners, he recently launched P3 Marine, the company’s dedicated branch for the yachting industry. BOAT’s Hannah Rankine sits down with Bedjaoui to learn more about his mission…
What is P3 Marine?
Live since 2021, Privat 3 Money is a digital financial institution tailored to high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (HNWI and UHNWI). Today, we serve hundreds of HNWI, including a dozen billionaires and their family offices that manage various assets, including yachts and aircraft, and use our financial platform to procure payments to management companies and crews. From the outset, I wanted to develop a solution specifically for the yachting industry, which is how P3Marine was born.
How does your background in yachting support your mission?
Yachting is a true passion of mine, and I’m proud to be a part of this industry. Currently, I own a dayboat by Pardo Yachts, which I manage using our platform to track its expenses. My family has owned four fully crewed superyachts over the years, ranging from 34 to 60 metres, so I have firsthand experience with yacht ownership and working with management companies. Even now, I continue to charter yachts from time to time and maintain strong relationships with management companies, brokerage firms and two of the captains I've worked with.
Why did you decide to launch Privat 3 Money?
After surveying the market, I saw a clear gap: no digitally enabled financial institution was effectively serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI). While some digital banks cater well to the mass market, once clients surpass a certain wealth threshold, those platforms fall short - they lack the right systems and infrastructure. As a result, UHNWI have been largely excluded from the benefits of the digital revolution.
Private banks, in particular, don’t offer seamless digital interaction for their clients. Their systems are outdated, costly, manual and lack transparency. From there, it was a natural progression to focus on the yachting sector. I wanted to help the family offices I work with manage their assets in a more efficient and streamlined way.
What are some examples of yachting scenarios where this system proves especially beneficial?
In the charter industry, I've often experienced challenges with financial reconciliation. For example, the reports captains provide during a charter are often far from ideal - if you're lucky, it's an Excel sheet, but many times it's just a handwritten piece of paper, offering little clarity. Captains often lack the tools to efficiently track and reconcile expenses - especially significant APA (Advanced Provisioning Allowance) balances - in a tech-friendly way. In our APA module, captains can upload receipts directly to the platform, which automatically calculates the expenses, deducts them from the initial APA, and ensures a smooth, transparent reconciliation process. This not only benefits captains but also simplifies things for family offices and yacht management companies. P3 Marine is a multi-permission platform, meaning captains, family offices and management companies can all use it.
Another issue we've addressed is payment processing. Many yacht owners face delays when trying to process payments through management companies, especially during peak season. Imagine a yacht arriving in St. Tropez in August, only to be unable to pay for berthing or provisions because traditional banks can be hesitant to approve certain payments at critical times. Our platform eliminates this uncertainty by providing a dedicated financial solution for the yachting industry.
In what ways does P3 Marine specifically address the needs of the yachting industry?
We empower yacht management companies to form true partnerships with us. Once onboarded, they have full control and can create what we call “sub-profiles” for each yacht or asset. This allows management companies to handle all KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements through our platform. Given the importance of AML (Anti-Money Laundering), sanctions checks and KYC in today’s regulatory environment - especially in the yachting industry - we offer a fully integrated solution. Backed by our banking platform, it organises and stores all relevant data and documentation in one user-friendly repository.
Behind the scenes, we continually monitor every individual and corporate entity that enters the platform. This makes us the first line of defence for yacht management companies using our system, as we’re constantly scanning for sanctions, PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) checks and other compliance issues for individuals, corporate entities, directors and UBOs (Ultimate Beneficial Owners). In discussions with leading management companies, they've been impressed by these functionalities and the added security our platform provides.
How do you plan on developing Privat 3 Money and P3 Marine?
We actively listen to feedback from captains and yacht management companies that have joined our platform, and we've already made several modifications based on their input. I recently spoke to a friend who is a leader in jet management and brokerage. When I shared details about P3 Marine, his immediate question was, "When will you launch this for the aviation industry?" I told him that expanding into aviation is part of our 2.0 vision. If we see strong adoption of the platform, we’re looking at rolling that out as early as next year.
To find out more information on P3 Marine, contact the team at Privat 3 Money or book a demo.
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