WAYS TO PAY
Digital payments are on the increase, but there are good reasons why plastic card payments have not yet been phased out
T
hanks to the good works of David Attenborough and the BBC Natural History Unit, we now understand the
need to cut down on plastic. Yet while we struggle with takeaway coffee cups and other packaging, Sir David may be grati- fied to learn one sector, at least, is already well on the road to de-plasticisation. Corporate payments have been moving
increasingly digital for a few years now and there are signs of, if not maturity, at least a rapid phase of adolescent growth. Carlson Wagonlit Travel handled 45 per cent more virtual cards in 2017, following a 50 per cent rise in 2016. One research company, Packaged Facts, even claims that virtual card spend outpaced plastic corporate travel card spend for the first time in 2017. Broadly speaking, there are three kinds of digital payment relevant to business travel: virtual cards, mobile payments and invisible payments.
VIRTUAL CARDS Typically, with a virtual card, a TMC elec- tronically calls up a 16-digit card number (just like those stamped across a plastic
card) to guarantee or pay immediately for a booking. Payment is settled through the corporate client’s centrally billed account. The key to virtual card numbers is that they are used once only. Accord- ing to virtual card technology provider Conferma, single use confers the benefit of the three Cs. The first is convenience. Virtual cards can pay for travel by people for whom plastic cards might be inap- propriate, including interns, new hires and temporary workers. The next is control. Each virtual number can be limited to paying a specified supplier for a specified amount at a specified time. Finally, there is clarity. Each card number is inherently reconciled, not only eliminating the drudgery of matching booked and billed data but also provid- ing ultra-reliable reporting. “There is growing awareness of what virtual payment is and more card issuers are offering these products,” says Clive
Cornelius, senior director, global card products, at CWT. “If companies have no payment pain points, there is no need for virtual cards.” However, he adds, such instances are rare. “Companies often don’t have controls for expenses like hotels and low-cost carriers. Using central payment with virtual cards, you can control what travellers are spending.”
THE MOBILE OPTION Another digital option is mobile. Paying by waving a phone over a scanner is now the dominant method of payment for China’s urban population. Mobile payment, especially by business users, is still in its early stages in the West,
14 BBT CORPORATE CARDS SUPPLEMENT 2018
In association with
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