Mitigate Risks
Using a virtual payment takes the payment
responsibility from the employee and moves
it to the company. It changes the repayment
path from an employee reimbursement to a
pre-allocated credit that is pre-paid by the
company. Reconciliation and payment stays
within the company’s financial environment
and doesn’t involve an individual’s credit
card accounts.
Some companies require their employees
to put their travel expenses on a personal
credit card. Due to the high costs of airfare
and hotel stays, they may be faced with
an inadequate credit limit and spend so
much that they max out a credit card – then
they’re really stuck. Employees with bad
credit or large balances wouldn’t be able
to provide a personal credit card to use for
a business trip. Virtual cards are seen as an
emergent product to address these issues.
Simplify Reconciliation
The value of single-use payments for
businesses ranging in size from small to
mega is the same – secure and trackable
payments. Each transaction has a unique
payment number making it easy for
accounting to reconcile the expense. And
because a payment number can only be used
once, virtual payments offer tighter security.
With virtual credit cards, spending limits
are usually set to the exact amount of the
trip as allocated by a travel management
company. This constraint limits the potential
for abuse because the spending limit is low.
Virtual payments benefit both the traveler
and the company in terms of efficiency.
Virtual payments eliminate the need to
pay in advance and file expenses later. For
frequent travelers, the chance to avoid the
expense reimbursement system motivates
travelers to use this option when using the
company’s online booking system.
4 ways virtual credit cards
help secure your payments
1
Set the
category type
When a virtual credit card is
generated, it can be only authorized
for a single merchant category, such
as hotel, train or airline. It can’t be
used to pay for services or products
in any other merchant category.
Improve Efficiency
Conferma has brought an ease of use to
virtual payments, simplifying the process
for a Travel Manager to take advantage of
this payment option as part of the booking
workflow. They offer full integration with
all the major GDS’s (Global Distribution
Systems), online booking agencies, a large
suite of banking partners and Concur to
seamlessly include a virtual payment into
each reservation.
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Virtual cards offer more transparency to
Travel Managers and identify which employees
are booking within their Travel Policy’s rules
and spending limits. Knowing that their
transactions can be closely monitored prompts
employees to align their bookings within the
company’s policies. And when a traveler knows
that payment for a trip is already in place,
they’re less likely to cancel at the last minute,
causing a raft of fees.
3
Determine
the Value
You can set a maximum value on
a virtual credit card. If a hotel rate
is $200 per night for two nights
plus expenses, the virtual credit
card may be capped at $500.
2
Use within a
Certain Date Range
Virtual payments are only valid
within specific days. For example,
if it’s being used by an employee
for a hotel stay, those dates would
be between check-in and check-
out. If you’re allowing a one-time
purchase, you can arrange it to
only be valid for a single day.
Use of a virtual credit card on
any date outside the defined
parameters is simply not possible.
4
Add
Authorization
You may choose to add a layer
of authorization by a manager or
senior employee for spending above
a certain dollar amount. To move
the approval process along swiftly,
that authorization can be viewed,
approved and completed on both
mobile and desktop interfaces.