If your company adopted, or is in the process of adopting, a commercial card monitoring service, it’s likely for a good reason. Perhaps it’s for several reasons. Convenience, efficiency, simplification, accountability, and cost reduction are all important and desirable benefits that businesses enjoy every day, simply because a decision was made to incorporate commercial cards, including purchasing cards (P-Cards) and travel cards, into their payment processes.
Of course, when a business finds an answer that solves so many problems and provides so many benefits, it just makes good sense to implement it.
Overlooked value, underused wisdom
Yet, these same companies that understand the value of a corporate card program often overlook the value that comes from using an outside corporate card monitoring service, such as Card Integrity.
The truth is, just as it’s prudent to take advantage of all the benefits a corporate card program has to offer, it’s also wise to use a third-party monitoring service to strengthen that program and retain its helpful benefits.
Benefits often overlooked
However, those managing a card monitoring service might not be aware of all the benefits offered by an outside management provider like Card Integrity. “Monitoring” might be an obvious, audit tool, but a monitoring service delivers many benefits that extends the effectiveness of your card program. This type of service extends well beyond the “out-of-the-box” monitoring capabilities that an ERP system, for example, may offer as part of their package.
Some of the most overlooked benefits include:
Time management
Simply put, Card Integrity’s solutions save time. Company staff spends less time on reviewing, which leaves more time that can be dedicated to analysis and communication.
Consistency
Card Integrity reviews and reports on a consistent monthly basis. No more lax reviewing, missing analytics, or skipping a month here and there. Everything gets covered, every time.
Transparency
A watchful, independent, third-party “eye” helps reduce fraudulent activity from occurring within your program. It also encourages healthy communication across departments.
Confidence
Our solutions promote policy compliance, to create a solid, well-functioning corporate card program.
Scalability
Card Integrity accommodates a growing card program. As the number of cardholders and transactions increases, we grow as well and continue to deliver complete, consistent service.
Autonomy
Our services work independently, eliminating your need to hire additional staff or acquire additional skills. Nor do any other departments (such as IT) need to be involved. Card Integrity handles our services on our own.
Trust
If there’s any benefit that makes the most sense in a program that handles your company’s finances, it’s the ability to create a real and sustainable atmosphere of trust. As trust in a card program increases, so does the program’s success.
When there is a foundation of trust supporting your card program:
- More transactions can be allowed.
- More vendors can be integrated.
- More cards can be supplied.
- More users can be trained.
- More money can be earned via card rewards.
- More money can be saved via vendor discounts.
Monitoring different types of commercial cards, like purchasing cards or travel cards
Commercial cards can encompass both purchasing cards and travel cards, among some other less common card types. While similar in that they are credit cards issued to employees of a company, the use cases on these cards differ quite a bit.
Purchasing cards (also known as P-Cards or procurement cards) are issued for the purpose of acquiring goods and services for the company. These are issued to employees that place orders frequently, and are advantageous for both company and employee because they are easy to use when compared to having to send every transaction through Accounts Payable as an invoice. They also allow the company to collect rebates. These cards are subject to policy restrictions like debarred vendors, transaction limits (both monthly and per transaction), prohibited categories, among others.
Travel cards or T&E cards are issued to employees that travel frequently. They are designed to be used for such transactions as hotel bookings, airline tickets, public transportation costs, and meals on company time/business. They are subject to strict policy guidelines to prevent wasteful spending or personal purchases.
Some banks offer a single card that covers both of the above use cases. They are generally referred to as “One Cards“. J.P. Morgan offers a One Card as an example.
Finally, we’ll mention ghost cards too. Ghost cards, or ghost accounts, refer to cardless purchasing accounts. These are generally created for one specific vendor to facilitate purchases between an organization and that vendor.
Card Integrity monitors commercial cards of all kinds
Some services “specialize” in or prioritize one or the other. Not Card Integrity. Our Expense Monitoring service reviews 100% of your card data and has over 350 alerts and behaviors that it checks for to ensure policy compliance. But policy compliance is just one piece of the puzzle. There are other reasons why we track card spending, like to benchmark for rebates and supplier diversity spend, as well as identify trends, patterns, and other procurement insights to supplement informed decisions.
To create a healthy, strong, successful card monitoring service, one that delivers all the benefits you’ve come to expect, it makes sense to take advantage of everything that will benefit the program itself. We’ve provided some free eGuides down below about both purchasing card monitoring and travel card monitoring. And if you’re interested in taking the next step with Card Integrity, or even if you’d just like to learn a bit more or schedule a demo, contact us today!
P-Card Program Best Practices:
T&E Card Expense Review Best Practices Guide:
