ADVERTORIAL FEATURE
What are Virtual Card Accounts? Virtual Card Accounts (VCA) are a digitally-generated unique 16-digit card number, with an expiry date, CVV code and a defined credit limit, used to pay for goods or services just like any regular corporate credit card. Despite not existing as a physical card, VCAs share many of the same features as plastic corporate credit cards. In addition, VCAs provide enhanced controls and benefits, including setting a maximum payment amount, limiting the suppliers where the VCA can be used, creating the account for a specified time-period, and capturing additional data elements used for post- travel reconciliation.
The instant generation of VCAs allows companies to utilise a secure and efficient payment solution for a variety of services, including corporate travel.
How does VCA for Travel work? For each corporate travel booking initiated through the company’s Travel Management Company (TMC) or via an Online Booking Tool (OBT) using VCA for Travel, a unique VCA is generated. This is used by Citi to pay the travel supplier and sent back to the TMC or OBT to complete the booking. All travel supplier payments made using VCAs are centralised into a single corporate account statement.
Citi has partnered with Conferma, a leading business travel fintech provider, to facilitate the global integration of VCA for Travel into top- tier TMCs and leading OBTs.
VCA for Travel currently supports the booking and payment of hotels and low cost airlines, and is being expanded to support the payment of air, rail and car services.
Where is VCA for Travel available? Citi VCA for Travel is globally available in 32 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and North America in 20 currencies.
Why use VCA for Travel? Citi VCA for Travel offers a company an efficient and cost-effective solution to centralise its travel payments. It provides numerous benefits including:
Better coverage of travellers: It enables companies to expand coverage of corporate travel and payment programmes to all travellers, including temporary staff, contractors, supplier and client travel, and infrequent travellers without a corporate card.
automatically delivered directly into a company’s expense management or enterprise resource planning system.
Global acceptance: VCAs can be processed like any card-not-present transaction, and are accepted by all card-accepting travel suppliers.
Enhanced security: The use of VCA minimises card loss, theft and fraud as every travel booking has a unique single use 16-digit number which expires after a defined time period.
Increased control and compliance: Authorisation parameters can be set for each transaction, providing unprecedented control. Only authorised expenses are allowed to be charged on the VCA, which reduces the potential for unauthorised expenses and increases compliance with the company’s travel and expense policies.
Greater efficiency: Centralisation of travel payments across hotels, low cost airlines, and other travel providers improves efficiency and lowers costs. Other processes associated with travel payments, such as reconciliation, can also be automated and accelerated using the rich data provided by VCAs.
Enriched visibility of data: User- defined fields enable companies to gain instant insights into spend trends. Detailed information is available relating to individual users or at a unit or company level and it is possible to drill down to review enhanced data. Detailed VCA reports can be
Why work with Citi? The use of virtual cards for travel has gained increased prominence and risen dramatically in recent years as companies recognise the greater security, reduced financial exposure, and improved travel arrangement control it offers. According to Sabre’s Travel Manager 2020 report, 66% of travel managers surveyed expect alternative forms of payments such as virtual cards to become a higher priority in the next 3-5 years. The days of lengthy application and card issuance processes associated with travel are over — improving convenience for travellers and companies making bookings, and accelerating payment for suppliers.
However, it is important that companies choose to work with the right provider when implementing a virtual card solution for travel. With 20 years of experience as a leader in travel services, Citi is well positioned to guide and support companies’ decision-making process and provide the right product offering.
© 2017 Citibank, N.A. All rights reserved. Citi and Arc Design is a registered service mark of Citigroup Inc.
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