Indispensable tools for travel and travel management, corporate cards are offered by major international payment networks: American Express, Diners Club, Mastercard and Visa. Based on the number of cards it holds, Carte Bleue Visa claims to cover two-thirds of the market for universally accepted corporate cards, excluding American Express. Some banks offer their corporate customers two international payment networks: Visa and Mastercard. Whether or not they are partners of the banks, these international payment networks segment their offer according to the type of customer they are targeting. For each segment, they offer more or less upmarket cards, depending on the level of services provided. At American Express, for example, business cards are aimed at the self-employed and very small businesses. These customers often only have one card, usually allocated to the manager. Corporate cards, on the other hand, are designed for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and large companies with a large number of travellers making expenditure on behalf of their company.<\/p>\n
The range of corporate cards is itself segmented, as St\u00e9phanie Laroque, Corporate Card Marketing Director at American Express, explains: \"We offer three products: corporate Green, corporate Gold and corporate Platinum. Designed primarily for SMEs, the only two co-branded B-to-B cards on the French market are issued in partnership with Air France and Accor.<\/p>\n
From one player to another, corporate cards come with a deferred payment option - generally set at 28 days - which is an advantage for the cash flow of business customers. The card may be debited from the company's bank account, but more often than not it is debited from the personal account of the cardholder, i.e. the employee, who draws up the expense claim and is reimbursed by the company before his or her account is debited. In the face of competition, international payment networks are striving to meet the needs of companies in terms of reporting, control, visibility and consolidation of expenses. Thanks to this detailed information on their expenditure, companies can negotiate \"tailor-made\" rates with their travel suppliers.<\/p>\n
Beyond these general principles, there are differences in the services provided during business trips. For example, the Visa Business Travel service is innovative in that it gives very small businesses access to a travel agency whose telephone number appears on their card for all their business travel needs. \"If, for example, an executive has planned to travel to Berlin and his or her plane is diverted to Frankfurt, the Visa BusinessTravel service will quickly reorganise the trip,\" explains David Cartier, head of corporate card marketing at Carte Bleue.<\/p>\n
The Visa Business Travel service, which books the trip from start to finish, is more convenient than booking services such as flights, hotel nights or car hire separately. This is especially important for business owners, as travel services are negotiated on the same financial terms as those usually offered to major accounts. Depending on the 'standing' of their corporate card, travellers have access to more or less elaborate services. \"In terms of business cards, the insurance and assistance cover has evolved considerably. For example, with the Visa Gold Business card, cover for essential expenses incurred as a result of transport delays has increased significantly\", continues David Cartier. With American Express, Gold cardholders can have their car hire excess partially waived. With a Platinum card, the excess is bought down to 100 %.<\/p>\n
In the current economic climate, a large number of companies are tending to restrict their travel budgets, and travel managers are often asked to have employees travel in economy class, even on long-haul flights. To ensure that they arrive at their destination in good shape, the solution is to make life easier for them on the ground, i.e. at the airport. This includes access to VIP car parks and airport lounges. The American Express Corporate Platinum card, reserved for the elite of frequent flyers, comes with exclusive services. In particular, thanks to the \"priority pass\", which guarantees access to more than 500 airport lounges and 500 VIP lounges in more than 90 countries and 275 cities worldwide. This access is guaranteed regardless of the class or airline on which the passenger is travelling.<\/p>\n
\"When a company invites tenders from international payment networks to set up or renew its cards, it takes several parameters into account. Its selection criteria mainly concern the card's acceptance network, the quality of its statistical data, the level of insurance and its cost\", explains Cyriaque Benoist, travel consultant. Before choosing a card, it is in the company's interest to study the typology of its travellers and their journeys. If they are travelling to the world's capitals, they can stay in international chain hotels. But if they are travelling to the provinces only, they will be staying in independent establishments that are not generally listed in the GDS (global distribution system) and, consequently, by the international payment networks.<\/p>\n
When it comes to statistics, the tool's ergonomics are also important. \"In addition to pre-formatted reports, travel managers want to receive more in-depth information, relating for example to a specific mission involving a very specific team\", continues Cyriaque Benoist. The cost of the card is not negligible. Depending on the number of cards deployed in a group and the forecast volume of related business, it is possible to negotiate rates. In some cases, it is even possible to obtain a \"cosigning bonus\", whereby the company receives a proportion of the commissions from the card's partners.<\/p>\n
Tenders are generally for three-year contracts. \"Companies are even more demanding when it comes to obtaining the best service at the best price, and they are paying particular attention to the universal acceptance of the cards they are going to issue to their employees. Particularly for staff travelling mainly within France\", stresses Fran\u00e7ois Gandon, Director of Products and Services at Mastercard France. With the prospect of tight travel budgets, it is important that the corporate card can be used to pay independent hotel bills.<\/p>\n
Reporting capacity is a decisive criterion in the choice of card issuer. The same applies to any partnership with a VAT recovery specialist. Some large groups handle the recovery of VAT in-house, while others prefer to outsource this complex task. \"In a card programme, companies take a close look at the pricing conditions. In particular, the annual fee for the card, as well as the commission for payments and withdrawals abroad, the monthly cost of reporting, and the duration and cost of deferred payment\", adds Fran\u00e7ois Gandon.<\/p>\n
Don't hesitate to check how reporting is billed: per line, flat rate or simple subscription. The cost generally varies according to the number of cards in circulation within the company and the average number of transactions per card. When it comes to foreign exchange, the international payment network - Mastercard, for example - uses a mechanical exchange rate applied to all card transactions. To this rate must be added the issuer's commission and the bank's commission. This commission may be fixed or proportional.<\/p>\n
The bank takes into account data such as the number of cards in the company and the projected volume of business when deciding whether to grant free card fees. However, if the financial institution already has a commercial relationship with its customer, or if it is trying to win a new customer, attractive conditions may be offered.<\/p>\n
This method of payment is known as the \"corporate travel card\" in the public sector and is commonly referred to as the \"business travel card account\" in the public sector. For the sake of simplicity, we will use the generic term \"corporate card\". This virtual card corresponds to a number held by the travel agency with which the company has signed an agreement. The card groups together all the air-train ticketing expenses it processes on a single monthly statement. An online reporting tool consolidates all the payment data for the corporate card. As a result, the company is better equipped to negotiate with its suppliers. With its own data, it is also able to check that its travel policy is being applied.<\/p>\n
Introduced in July 2008, the new version of AirPlus Information Manager is an even more user-friendly tool with enhanced data quality. To enable companies to monitor the application of their travel policy, this programme provides them with a range of information: data by flight coupon for air travel, fare basis, analysis by origin-destination of fares, airport taxes and costs generated at the transaction stage. Since May 2009, AirPlus has been offering SMEs AirPlus savings trackers, a service for identifying potential savings.<\/p>\n
The card can also be used to manage credit balances, given that programme changes and cancellations are frequent in business travel. The wealth of travel agency billing systems is another advantage. Firstly, the travel agency can use the card to pay for all the tickets issued for the company. The company then pays the card issuer on the basis of a detailed billing statement. This formula ensures centralised payment. From an administrative point of view, with the smart card comes the dematerialisation of invoices and data. The virtual elimination of manual data entry generates savings in indirect costs. \"Optimising ticket purchases from suppliers can save up to 15 % on these items of travel expenditure. The fact that the cash advances made by the travel agencies are transferred to the card operator reduces agency transaction costs by 2 to 5 %\", explains John Baird-Smith, Director of Air Plus in France. It should be noted that the SNCF has exclusively chosen AirPlus international for payment via its corporate portal.<\/p>\n
As long as card issuers take care of payment, suppliers, airlines, railways and some car hire companies still have to issue invoices to their customers. But thanks to dematerialisation, they no longer have to print it out and send it by post. Customers receive a file containing the accounting integration, so they don't have to archive invoices. The debit card is mainly used to pay for plane and train tickets; in the airline sector, acceptance of this card by low-cost airlines is beginning to develop. In the absence of a dedicated card, many companies are in the habit of dedicating a business card to the travel agency that manages company travel. Employees then benefit from the insurance and assistance cover linked to their Visa Business card, even if the trip has not been paid for with their card.<\/p>\n
Market players have identified a trend towards centralising certain expenses by business sector. This has led to the extension of smart card solutions to the car rental sector, where car rental expenses can be consolidated into a detailed monthly expense statement.<\/p>\n
For example, with an Airplus card, you can hire vehicles from Hertz, Europcar, Sixt, National, Citer and soon Avis. Last autumn, American Express launched the \"car rental card account\". This service is already available from Avis and Europcar. Discussions are underway with other short-term car and van rental operators. \"The aim is to create a multi-supplier vehicle rental solution to make life easier for companies, most of which work with one main rental company and sometimes one or two others, depending on their geographical location. Thanks to the centralised invoicing system, the log-in card provides an exhaustive view of all expenditure\", says one observer. This multi-user, multi-market solution comes with a single means of payment for user companies, made within 28 days of the statement date; they now have just one payment to make, with an average payment period of 45 days. Still for short-term vehicle hire, reservations can be made via several channels: via a travel agency, an SBT (self booking tool), an online booking tool or the hire company's website. Of course, the card has the advantage of being able to adapt to a growing number of different types of expenditure. But its limitations remain mainly in the hotel sector. And yet the players in the market are responding quickly. Air Plus and American Express, among others, are in the process of developing a solution based on centralised payment for hotel purchases.<\/p>\n
Public purchasing cards are a speciality reserved for local authorities and institutions. In this niche, American Express, Air Plus and Mastercard offer products tailored to the regulations and expectations of public authorities, EPICs (public industrial and commercial establishments) and EPAs (public administrative establishments). Their customers include ministries, cities, chambers of commerce, etc. In 2005, Dexia Cr\u00e9dit Local and American Express signed a partnership agreement to market their co-branded purchasing card offer to public bodies. Interfaced with accounting software, an information system enables a single global statement of card transactions to be issued on a monthly basis. This means the end of small invoices!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"