BBT


CORPORATE CARDS SUPPLEMENT 2015


Overview By Catherine Chetwynd


A trend that remains


unchanged is the polarisation of opinion concerning individual or central payment of cards


especially in emerging markets; and those that are holding back their T&E spend. “T&E spend is flat year-on-year in global companies; there is more control than ever,” says Amex vice-president of sales, Alan Gillies. But he says mid-sized companies (turn-


over between £2 million and £100 million) are adopting cards for T&E and non-T&E spend. “When we talk to mid-market com- panies with major supplier relationships that are key to running their business, we are discussing the adoption of a corporate card to pay for transactions with suppliers,” he says. Barclaycard is also seeing this trend. Amex’s online Buyer Initiated Payment system allows small- and medium-sized


CASE STUDY Value Retail plans wider card programme


LUXURY SHOPPING OUTLET VALUE RETAIL, which runs retail parks such as Bicester Village, has 200 regular travellers, only a few of whom have corporate cards. At the moment, the company is billed back for everything.


In association with


“Trust me, I mean every- thing – hotels, taxis, train tickets, airlines,” says travel manager Mark Payne. “Only meals are expensed. Our TMC raises an invoice but we get no detail – no VAT breakdown, nor data on the content of the bill,


so the whole audit trail is cloudy, if not non-existent.” Payne plans to take


control. “I am proposing that we use corporate cards for hotels and train travel, and that flights remain on invoice with the TMC,” he says.


enterprises to pay suppliers and benefit from 55 days’ credit, allowing greater cash flow controls – and, because suppliers are paid quickly, they may give an early payment discount. Virtual cards are also playing an increas-


ing role in expense management and have insinuated themselves into the (virtual) corporate wallet (see p14). “Virtual cards are becoming more and more prevalent in requests from issuing customers and from corporates, as they integrate them into booking tools,” says Mastercard T&E payment solutions business leader Martin Chapman. “And agencies have streamlined hotel payments through virtual cards, although we are seeing slow


take-up for scheduled air travel, which is still going on to lodge cards.” He points out that transaction costs are set against efficiencies for all parties.


Amex is looking at how to integrate


virtual card technology into its Business Travel Account to provide better fraud protection, cost control and merged data from air, hotel and car rental spend. Virtual cards are also one of Barclaycard’s fastest growing products. “The technology allows companies to pre-pay for a hotel, and extras go on to the corporate charge card, giving central visibility, with an onus for compli- ance on the traveller,” says Barclaycard director of product Maria Parpou. The ability to ring-fence spend on virtual


cards is not the only advantage. “They remain the choice for organisations that do not want to mass distribute individual cards,” says Tom Stone, managing director of consultancy Sirius. Citi saw volumes of virtual card use in-


crease three-fold between 2013 and 2014, with this year following suit. “And we are seeing more clients putting it into RFPs [requests for proposal] and into their own payment solutions,” says Morgan Salmon, Citi’s head of EMEA commercial cards, B2B product management. Virtual technology is also replacing the much-pilloried hotel billback. “Those that


BBT CORPORATE CARDS SUPPLEMENT 2015 7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36