Taboola

Taboola had offered the Deutschlandticket to everyone in Germany, and almost nobody took it up. Colleagues bought the ticket themselves and submitted a claim through the company expenses system. Tickets rarely arrived on time. Some colleagues submitted several months of claims at once, with references that were inconsistent or unclear, so the HR administration team spent additional time answering questions about which amounts had been reserved and for which months.

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Sorting and checking those claims took three to four hours every month. On the employee side the effect was the predictable one. Take-up sat at around 20%. Awareness of the Deutschlandticket was low, and many people cycled or drove to the office instead.

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"Before introducing NAVIT, our process for offering Deutschlandtickets was cumbersome and inefficient. For our colleagues the experience was uninspiring with low take up as it required more work to process a ticket request than purchasing the ticket itself!"

Dominic Addison-Nelson Benefits & Payroll Advisor EMEA at Taboola

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The specific pain points that Taboola sought to resolve:

• Implementing the Deutschlandticket
• Low utilization of employee benefits
• Manual and/or complex processes
• Significant administrative burden

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In December 2025, Taboola moved the Deutschlandticket onto NAVIT. Colleagues order and manage their ticket themselves in the NAVIT app, where it is available digitally and can be added to a mobile wallet. Nobody submits a receipt, because there is no purchase to reimburse. HR receives one standardised monthly report and passes it directly to the payroll provider. Only tickets that colleagues have actually ordered appear on it, so the checking step disappeared.

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Taboola's HR and payroll systems stayed untouched. There is no interface between them and NAVIT, so the rollout needed no integration project and no field mapping, which matters for teams whose core systems are managed by an international headquarters.

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The Deutschlandticket can be subsidised by the employer tax-free under §3 Nr. 15 EStG, the section of the German Income Tax Act that covers public transport benefits. NAVIT reflects that treatment in the monthly report, so the correct amounts reach payroll without manual calculation.

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Dominic Addison-Nelson names four practical gains. Automatic reporting, flexibility in setting mobility policies, visibility of the environmental impact of the benefit, and an interface that colleagues and HR can both use without training.

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"Since implementing NAVIT, our world has changed. An automated reporting process and easy to use portal means administering the benefits now takes minutes, thanks in part due to the great interface, but also because the site only shows you the information you need for payroll and HR."

Dominic Addison-Nelson Benefits & Payroll Advisor EMEA at Taboola

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Eight months after its launch, 92% of employees are using the benefit. That is seven times more users than before. The Deutschlandticket has moved from a fringe offer to the standard mobility benefit for most of the German team.

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Monthly administration is down to about one hour from the previous three to four hours. What remains is reviewing one report and handing it over to payroll.

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"Our uptake has exploded with the majority of our colleagues (92%) now regularly using NAVIT each month. Colleagues love the convenience of the app and how they can easily manage their ticket, without any lengthy disruption to their day."

Dominic Addison-Nelson Benefits & Payroll Advisor EMEA at Taboola

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The commuting goal Taboola set out with is being met as well. More colleagues travel to the office by public transport than before, and HR can see the environmental effect of the benefit in the dashboard instead of estimating it.

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Taboola contributes to the ticket price for every colleague, which is what turns the Deutschlandticket into a Deutschland-Jobticket. Transport operators grant a discount on the ticket price once an employer contributes at the defined minimum level, so the employer contribution reduces the cost on both sides, and that contribution is itself tax-free under §3 Nr. 15 EStG.

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"The discount has meant as well that we're getting even better value, all whilst maintaining a highly positive employee experience."

Dominic Addison-Nelson Benefits & Payroll Advisor EMEA at Taboola

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The conclusion: what changed was the process, not the ticket

Nothing about the Deutschlandticket itself changed at Taboola. Same ticket, same coverage, same tax treatment. What changed is how colleagues get hold of it and what reaches payroll afterwards.

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Ordering sits with the colleagues who want the ticket, and they handle it in the app. Because only ordered tickets are billed, HR no longer checks which months a claim covers. Taboola's HR and payroll systems stayed as they were, with no interface to NAVIT and nothing to migrate. The monthly report is the single point where the two sides meet.

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For the German team, that took monthly administration from three to four hours down to about one, and uptake from around 20% to 92%.

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^{Figures reported by Taboola, customer questionnaire, August 2026. NAVIT rollout December 2025.}

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