For travel agents, the Virtual Card has become an essential tool thanks to its simplicity, fluidity, transparency and security.
Launched at the turn of the decade to offer an automated payment solution for all expenses not covered by the debit card, and which can be directly integrated into corporate information systems, the Virtual Card is also enjoying growing popularity with travel agencies. It has even become the industry's flagship product, thanks to its ability to be integrated into different systems.
Thanks to a card number generated automatically on demand, this solution can be used to guarantee hotel room reservations for travellers, buy plane tickets or hire cars.
Travel agents benefit from using this solution to purchase holidays and other services, which they then charge back to their customers. Whereas previously they had to use a large number of cards - cards which also had limited limits - they now have an integrated solution offering payment capacity tailored to their needs.
The Virtual Card is therefore a highly flexible and secure payment solution. Issued on secure platforms for each expenditure, the card number is unique, protecting professionals against the risk of fraud. Another advantage is that they can defer payment for better cash management. What's more, the BNP Paribas Virtual Card also saves them foreign exchange costs by extending its footprint to currencies other than the euro, starting with the pound sterling, the dollar and the Swiss franc, and soon to include other currencies.
What's more, up to ten additional items of data can be associated with each transaction: the Virtual Card makes it very easy to reconcile the data. This simplifies analytical reporting and the reconciliation of accounting entries.
Thanks to these many advantages, the BNP Paribas Virtual Card has become an essential payment solution for travel agencies and hotel reservation platforms, most of which are market leaders.
BNP PARIBAS, A KEY PARTNER FOR VIRTUAL CARD HUBS
As well as being able to integrate the BNP Paribas Virtual Card directly into their reservation systems, travel agencies can also take advantage of its benefits through the partnerships forged by the bank with fintechs enabling the famous single-use card numbers to be issued. The BNP Paribas Virtual Card is connected to Conferma, whose virtual card generation engine is directly installed in the GDSs and interfaced with the main SBT and HBT solutions. Similarly, the BNP Paribas Virtual Card is also accessible via the Blue solution developed by Koedia, another e-business specialist with over 50 partners in the business travel sector. A real benefit for travel agencies.
3 questions to ... Marie Paule Combadières, Sales Support Director, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
THE VIRTUAL CARD ENABLES US TO RECONCILE 98 % WITH ACCOUNTING ENTRIES
What role does the Virtual Card play in the payment centralisation strategy?
MR P. C. - The Virtual Card can be used to pay for all services not covered by the card, in particular those provided by hotels and occasional suppliers. In practice, Carlson Wagonlit guarantees and pays for hotels booked in its own name, on behalf of its customers. We take care of invoice collection and bank reconciliations, and this service is then re-invoiced to our customers. However, we still need to educate the various players in the market, as our administrative work is often poorly understood by customers. As for suppliers, some are still unfamiliar with the virtual card concept and prefer plastic card guarantees.
How is the Virtual Card an effective solution for organising your branch?
MR P. C. - The Virtual Card offers a high level of security, as it is a single-use card for a pre-determined amount. This minimises the risk of fraud and misappropriation. What's more, because the card is single-use, it has a reference number for each transaction. This enables us to reconcile 98 % with the accounting entries.
Can it also cover MICE expenses?
MR P. C. - The Virtual Card is widely used for all the ancillary expenses associated with an event. Suppliers - a florist, electrician or decorator, for example - are rarely listed in our systems, as they are called upon on an ad hoc basis. Paying them by virtual card solves the problem of payment times for their services.
MEETINGS AND EVENTS
ALL THE CARDS IN YOUR HAND FOR EVENT MANAGEMENT
Banking solutions are available to help companies structure their MICE expenditure. Although not yet widely known by companies, they bring together these expenses under a single budget code
For a number of years now, companies have been trying to get a better grip on spending in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Congresses & Exhibitions) segment. However, the management of this budget is still relatively unstructured, mainly due to limited visibility of the costs incurred, which are usually spread across different departments and divisions. However, there are ways of solving this headache. A centralised payment solution such as the Virtual Card simplifies the process of booking and paying for each service, while providing companies with accurate data, enabling buyers to negotiate with suppliers on a broader basis. In practice, companies can allocate a global budget for a specific event, or even for all their event expenses.
Several departments can have access to the same budget, and each authorised person can use it for the amount allocated to them. The Virtual Card offers a practical solution for ordering each service, with parameters that can be set right down to the merchant accepting the payment method. For each payment requirement, the employee generates a virtual card according to the delegations allocated to them, for example for a maximum amount, for a specific period of use or for a particular service provider. Each virtual card generated can only be issued if the employee enters the details of the service and the correct budget codes on the card when it is generated, making it easier to reconcile expenditure.
