Feature: Corporate cards ➔
operate a card programme are probably wasting hours checking costs and making and recording payments, and have a fragmented picture of their total expenditure. This can affect forecasting and negotiating effectively with suppliers. Yael Klein, managing director of AirPlus International, agrees that a card programme is essential for companies both large and small, with the ability to make savings and data control the major benefits. “We don’t single out SMEs for special attention,” she says. “With AirPlus, a one-size card really does fit all, with the larger companies taking a range of elements and the smaller ones deciding on which ones meet their basic requirements, with the emphasis on credit lines. We don’t overburden them with information they don’t need. It’s rather like choosing between a Ferrari and a Fiat 500.” Neither model, from whichever supplier you choose, seems to have been considered by the bosses of many small British companies. According to a Federation of Small Businesses study among 10,000 firms conducted in early 2010, 41 per cent of SME managers had dipped into their personal savings to settle
➔ A SELECTION OF CORPORATE CARD SUPPLIERS
AirPlus International Number of card users: 550,000 Profile: The AirPlus Corporate Card claims greater accountability and monitoring of individual travel expenses. More than 27 million MasterCard merchants in some 240 countries worldwide accept the card, which can also be used at over 1.2 million ATMs. All transactions are captured by the AirPlus Information Manager online reporting tool. This gives corporate customers round-the-clock access to their business travel data, helping them identify cost- cutting opportunities and optimise control of their travel and expenses. Complete card portfolio management is provided by the AirPlus Business Travel Portal. For the SME customer: corporate cards are offered to both small and medium-size enterprises and larger businesses, with the level of service in all cases “second to none”. Tel: 020 8994 4725; See:
www.airplus.com
American Express Number of card users: 100,000 firms Profile: A global leader in charge and credit cards, through its Global Corporate Services group American Express offers expense management facilities to the more than 100,000 companies worldwide using its corporate card programme. For the SME customer: American Express and The Mileage Company – British Airways’ rewards subsidiary – launched the British Airways American
Express Corporate Card Plus last year. This has been designed to enable the UK’s small- to medium-size enterprises to achieve savings on their everyday business spending at a company and employee level. The card gives users the opportunity to earn bonus On Business Points on expenditure every time they travel. These can be redeemed for British Airways flights, flight upgrades and hotel accommodation. The company earns 2,500 points per year per company member spending over £25,000 on the card. Individual members of staff who belong to the BA Executive Club also benefit, earning 1.5 BA Miles for every £1 spent on the card, or three when the same expenditure is with the airline itself. It offers flexible payment options and customers can set limits to help control high-risk spending and enforce policies. Tel: 0800 021 3054 See:
http://realsolutions.americanexpress.co.uk;
www.americanexpress.co.uk/bacorpcard
Barclaycard Number of card users: 145,000 Profile: Together with credit and charge cards and other payment solutions, Barclaycard is Europe’s leading issuer of Visa commercial cards, designed for businesses of all sizes. For the SME customer: the issuer’s corporate card is convenient for all employee travel and expense costs, with the ability to set individual spend limits. The management of travel expenses is streamlined by automating invoice payments, reconciliation and reporting, with management
information summaries helping companies to better forecast and analyse their expenditure and travel programme. See:
www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/ makingpayments/small
MasterCard Profile: Considering itself a critical link among financial institutions and millions of businesses, cardholders and merchants in 210 countries, MasterCard does not issue cards directly but to a number of member institutions. These include Clydesdale Bank, NatWest, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclaycard. The supplier claims to “advance commerce by developing more secure, convenient and rewarding payment solutions, processing billions of payments seamlessly across the globe, and building economic solutions that accelerate business”. For the SME customer: MasterCard Business Card is at the centre of MasterCard Small Business Solution. Designed specifically for the self-employed, it promises improved cash management and simplified administration. Of particular interest to the small company is MasterCard’s prepaid travel card. This allows businesses to determine the value of funds available to every cardholder, the company’s InControl technology enabling effective management of individual spending. The card can be used in any country with any currency and with vendors or ATMs displaying the MasterCard acceptance symbol. See:
www.mastercard.com/uk/business/en/index.html
“Companies that do not operate a card programme are probably wasting hours checking costs and making and recording payments”
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