AirPlus increases the functionality of its solution A.I.D.A. with its new virtual payment card issuing platform. Card limit, validity period, currency, purchase category, number of possible authorisations, email for expense approval: the aim of this development is to give companies better control over payments for maximum security, but also greater visibility of travel expenses thanks to a new dashboard and a host of associated filters.
Ease of use
This reinforcement is part of the continuing growth of the virtual payment card. If this solution has found its place in the world of business travel, it is above all due to thanks to its ease of use for all purchases from distance-selling suppliers, including hotel bookings, airline tickets (including low-cost airlines) and even online purchases.
This solution is particularly suitable expenditure by occasional travellers and external service providers, professionals who, for the most part, do not have a business card. But it is also suitable for other categories of expenditure: indirect purchases, for example, or for MICE events.
In practice, the A.I.D.A. virtual payment card can be used to generate single-use virtual credit card numbers on demand from a computer. Each virtual card number corresponds to detailed data on the services booked - for example, the number of overnight stays and paid extras such as breakfast and wifi - all of which is enhanced by analytical information such as cost centres or project codes. This makes accounting reconciliation that much easier.
The A.I.D.A. card is integrated into more than 60 reservation platforms and benefits from partnerships with Conferma, HRS, Amadeus, Concur, Traveldoo and KDS.worldwide acceptance at 36 million merchant partners in the Mastercard network, in 192 countries in 2017. It complements the AirPlus card, which is based on UATP, the world's leading acceptance network for business travellers.
Multiple benefits
All transactions are debited from the company's escrow account and grouped together on a single billing statement. In this way, companies can take their desire to centralise payments even further. The benefits are threefold: a consolidated view of expenditure for travel managers, who can use this to ensure greater compliance with travel policy by selecting a limited number of suppliers; greater negotiating leverage for purchasers; and, finally, for all employees, the possibility of avoiding the need to make payments. a tedious and time-consuming taskA final benefit is the security of travellers thanks to extensive travel insurance cover. The final benefit: travellers' security thanks to extensive travel insurance cover. For all services paid for by A.I.D.A. virtual card, travellers are insured for the duration of their trip.
Virtual payment increasingly a realityWhile 20 % of companies use a virtual card according to the latest ITMS study (International Travel Management Study), AirPlus recorded 34 % growth in its A.I.D.A solution last year. payment virtualisation. At a time when cash payments are tending to disappear in favour of contactless credit cards, these same physical cards could also disappear in the near future. Totally dematerialised innovations have already appeared, making payment invisible. With this in mind, AirPlus is working on new solutions such as Dine & Go, which makes restaurant payments transparent by allowing diners to pay their bills directly from their smartphone. Welcome to the era of digital business travel. |
Contact: AirPlus International
22, rue Caumartin - 75009 Paris - Tel: +33 (0) 1 43 12 36 36 Email: marketingfrance@airplus.com - www.airplus.com/fr
