Who is the best card issuer?

Over the years, I have fielded many questions from end-users who wanted an opinion on the “best” issuer. My standard answer is that every issuer has both happy and not-so-happy customers. Best is subjective, varying by end-user. Making the best decision involves identifying your organization’s specific needs and goals first, then determining the best match. I used to say issuers differ the most in three broad categories, but now I add two more to the list.

Monetary Incentives

I start with this one to get it out of the way, not because I think it is most important. (I addressed the dark side of rebates last year, including how it can cloud judgment when selecting an issuer.) Sometimes it is challenging to compare issuers’ financial proposals because each might use different criteria. Things to consider are:

• Number of factors that figure into the rebate calculation and how your program might fare based on historical data
• Minimum spend threshold to qualify for incentives and what happens if you do not meet specified requirements
• How large-ticket transactions are treated
• Potential for a one-time signing bonus
• Contract duration

Do not just review an issuer’s proposed table of basis points; read the accompanying details and stipulations.

Customer Service

Money only goes so far. The people factor can make or break an issuer/end-user relationship, as well as a card program. A strong relationship, including getting answers and help when needed, increases the likelihood of program success. What is important to your organization in this area? Considerations when evaluating issuers include: 

• How will they support your program goals and help you identify improvement opportunities? 
• Will you have a dedicated relationship manager (RM) or a broad team of customer service reps? 
• Will you have a say in the RM assigned to you? 
• What should you expect in terms of support and service? What is their role versus your role?
• Will they proactively offer Commercial Card education and share industry news/changes that may affect you? 

Technology

Program management technology should make things easy for your organization and not move you backward. Take test drives of the options and allow your heaviest users to do so. Identify the types of reports most critical to you and ensure the technology offers them in the format you prefer. Again, it is all about your needs and requirements, including those of AP, Tax, Audit, etc.  

Winner or loser? Increase your odds of selecting the right issuer by not making a random decision.  

The final two categories may not apply to every organization, but both are becoming increasingly common.

Electronic Accounts Payable (EAP)

If you are interested in an EAP solution, be familiar with the different types. Do you prefer a push model (buyer-initiated payments) or pull model (supplier-initiated payments)? Or do you want to have both available to you? Also explore whether a proposed solution will integrate with your existing finance/AP system(s). Further, what level of EAP support does each potential issuer offer? Training and supplier outreach are two elements. 

Global Capabilities

This might be the biggest differential. If your card program covers more than one country, take care in developing detailed RFP questions. It is not just a matter of whether an issuer says it can support a certain country (yes/no); it is a matter of how.  

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RFP Help

This blog post only scratches the surface of card issuer selection. If your organization is seeking assistance with a request for proposal (RFP) project, contact Recharged Education to discuss further and obtain a quote. See also additional RFP-related content.

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About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With more than 15 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…

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Refresh your travel policy with a makeover.

Organization policies. We love to criticize them. Maybe this is because they are often 1) hard to find when needed, 2) painful to read and 3) lacking in detail, which leaves room for interpretation that is likely to come back and haunt the offending employee. Is this true of your Commercial Card and/or travel policies? The below article from GoldSpring Consulting LLC caught my eye, as it provides common sense advice and encourages readers to consider elements your travel policy might be missing. 

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It's All In Your Travel Policy...Or Is It?

by Julie Simpson, Senior Consultant, GoldSpring Consulting LLC

This article originally appeared in the September 2015 edition of GoldSpring Insights, the email newsletter of GoldSpring Consulting. Reprinted with their permission. 

The one constant in the business travel industry is continual change. This truism makes an up to date travel policy key to the success of your program, yet it is one of those tasks that is easily put off. No less than annually, however, your policy needs attention.

First – where is it? If it is a printed document sitting on someone’s desk, dust it off and get it online. Travelers and arrangers need to know where to locate it. While seasoned travelers may look for ways around policy, new employees or travelers appreciate a place to go to find guidance.

One of the challenges and gifts of the online age is demand for brevity. Travelers need quick access to comprehensive information in a format that allows them to quickly sort through and find what they are looking for. Best practice is a sortable, searchable or tabbed online policy. If your company requires extensive rules (perhaps due to government contracts), find a way to capsulize the basics with links to the detail.

Setting up your online tool in a way that reflects your policy is vital to the success of your program. The more your policy can be managed in the booking process, the more likely it is to be followed. Along the same vein, working with your travel management company (TMC) to effectively communicate policy is very important.

Don’t leave your business travelers stranded with questions. Ensure your travel policy is clear and current.

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Related Resources

A Reasonable Person’s Policy for Reimbursement of Tips Paid Out of Pocket, a previous Recharged Education blog post by guest blogger Mary S. Schaeffer

How to Revitalize Your Purchasing Card Policies and Procedures: A Practical Guide for Program Managers and Administrators, available from the online store 

An up to date policy also allows you to manage new industry challenges and address questions such as:

• Is it okay to pay to check bags? If not always, when? Is it based on trip duration or purpose?
• Can the cost of a preferred seat assignment be reimbursed? More often than not, seat assignments are available only for an additional fee.
• What about shared services? Is Lyft or Uber acceptable, treated like a taxi, or ignored?
• Under what circumstances is an Airbnb property acceptable? Are they part of your lodging program?

Other company resources need to be engaged in reviewing and evaluating your policy as well, such as the human resources, insurance and legal departments. It’s a good idea to have a standing committee in place tasked with reviewing your policy no less frequently than annually – more often if industry changes dictate.

Maintaining your travel policy can be a daunting proposition with so many other demands on a travel manager’s time. If needed, the GoldSpring team can support you in reviewing or adjusting your travel policy.

As the business travel industry continues to shift and evolve over the coming years, maintaining a relevant and up to date travel policy will be increasingly important. Although it is easy to leave your travel policy on the back burner, giving it the attention it deserves is an easy way to get ahead of traveler questions that will arise with changes in the business travel environment.

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About GoldSpring Consulting

GoldSpring Consulting provides consultancy services to support all aspects of corporate travel programs, including software solutions to analyze and benchmark programs. GoldSpring’s industry-leading team of experts brings over 100 years of experience and creates custom solutions for their clients’ travel programs. For more information about GoldSpring Consulting and its services, please visit: http://www.goldspringconsulting.com. 

To sign up for GoldSpring’s mailing list, click here.

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Recharged Education Blog

Written by Lynn Larson, CPCP

Give your managers a life preserver.

Are managers to blame for cardholders’ unethical and criminal acts, or do they get an undeserved bad rap? A new internal fraud incident involving a Commercial Card got me thinking more about a manager’s role in fraud prevention and detection. Keep reading to learn about the fraud, manager hurdles and nine tips to help managers be successful.

The Fraud

A friend told me about a sales rep his company recently fired for using a company card for personal purchases. “Jane,” a long-time trusted employee, allowed both her husband and adult daughter to use her card for personal car rentals. In addition, Jane used her card for personal food purchases that did not have any business purpose. Because of her sales position, charges for car rentals and meals were common, so they did not raise any red flags.

The company, which had a corporate liability card program, uncovered the fraud after an automated toll road charge appeared on Jane’s card. It had occurred in conjunction with the daughter’s car rental. When the company did research to determine the associated business activity, they soon realized Jane was in the office during the purported trip. Things went downhill from there.

Is the Manager at Fault?

Upon hearing about Jane, my first question was, “Why didn’t her manager catch this?” When fraud of any kind—Commercial Card, expense report or other—goes undetected, it is easy to blame the employee’s manager. However, while managers’ lack of oversight is often a factor, we should dig deeper. Do organizations set up their managers for success or failure?

The friend who told me about Jane is a manager. He admits he only does a cursory review of his employees’ expenses because he has too much on his plate. He shared, “I only have so much time every day. Administrative tasks like expense reviews are not my priority because the risk of potential expense fraud is lower than the risk to my company if I neglect my unique job duties. At the end of the day, I have to trust my employees, so I can focus elsewhere.”  

Like many organizations, his company also enforces a monthly deadline by which managers must complete the expense review process. While the intent is to hold managers accountable for their important role in fraud detection, the downside is hurried sign-offs without attention to detail. Indeed, to avoid being called out for tardiness, my friend says he meets the deadline regardless of whether he actually performs a complete review. Approaches like this can be a matter of manager survival.  

Manager Hurdles

• The manager is on overload, juggling too many other responsibilities.
• The manager resides in a different location than the cardholder (this was true in Jane’s case) and might be out of touch with an employee’s daily activities, unable to recognize fraudulent expenses.
• The manager is responsible for too many employees. We can debate how many is too many, but try to determine how long it takes to review one cardholder’s monthly transactions/statement thoroughly. Multiply by a manager’s number of cardholders to get a sense of the commitment. 
• The organization does not require any related training or provide any helpful tools.

Are organizations drowning their managers or providing the necessary support for survival and success?

Helping Managers Be Successful

I asked my friend what would help make the reviewer/approver role easier. Our discussion reinforced best practices, but also touched on lesser-used strategies. The tips include:

1. Pursue senior management involvement in communicating the importance of the manager’s role, so they hear it from the top.
2. Specifically design training for managers; make it relevant. While they need to understand the cardholder’s role, too, they do not need to learn the same details. Learn more...
3. Require managers to sign an internal agreement like cardholders.
4. Mandate annual training on card policies, as well as ensure managers are trained on red flag behaviors that could indicate fraud.
5. Require cardholders to provide key information for each charge. “Car rental for business trip” is too vague. “Car rental for August 31 meeting in NY with ABC Company” is much better.
6. Utilize electronic review tools that managers can access at any time. Yes, some organizations still have a paper-based process, which is more tedious.
7. Send managers a weekly report of their cardholders’ charges. My friend observed that this would make him more likely to spot oddities and ease the monthly review requirement. Then he would not be overwhelmed with seeing a month’s worth of charges for the first time and trying to recall what happened weeks ago.
8. Provide other reporting, too, such as purchasing  history for the manager’s department, which I described in a 2014 blog post on fraud, along with other tips.
9. Offer an at-a-glance reference of what managers should look for when reviewing expenses.

I also wonder if organizations should encourage or require a recurring “meeting” on managers’ calendars to reserve time each week and/or month for expense reviews. This sends a message that the task is important. What do you think? Feel free to comment and share any additional tips. 

See also other available resources related to card program controls.

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About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With more than 15 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…

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