Premiering a new rebate idea.

March 14, 2016 Lynn Larson

You know the plot. Card issuers extend rebate incentives, based on various criteria, to qualifying end-user organizations and the payout is set to occur on some type of schedule. I have written about the pros and cons of rebates before, but this time I offer a twist on the script of how issuers offer these incentives. An article in The New York Times this month, outlined below, provided the inspiration.

There is nothing wrong per se with the current rebate process. Yet, too many organizations do not fully take advantage of Commercial Cards today, even though doing so can result in numerous benefits, including the added bonus of rebates. In the past, I explored how risk psychology contributes to Commercial Card aversions, so maybe rebate psychology is an answer.

Psychology at Work

The article, Paying Employees to Lose Weight, described research on the success (or failure) of monetary incentives for getting employees to be healthier. Many things do not work well, such as delaying financial rewards too far into the future. I wonder if Commercial Card programs eligible for quarterly rebates excel more than those that are on an annual schedule. The real story, however, is what does work with such plans.

In one study, employees were in a group setting and only the group members who met monthly goals received rewards. The others missed out due to their own inaction, but they saw the success of their peers.

In a different study, each employee was set up with money in an account, which would be subject to daily deductions if the employee did not meet the designated goal (in this case, walking a certain number of steps each day). This trumped a separate group who could earn the same amount of money for meeting the daily goal. Losing money proved to be a bigger motivator than earning money.

Incentives that push under-performing card programs in the right direction are worthy of red carpet treatment.

Article referenced: Paying Employees to Lose Weight by Mitesh S. Patel, David A. Asch and Kevin G. Volpp

Applying the Lessons to Rebates

Imagine an issuer establishing a rebate dollar amount for an end-user client at the beginning of the rebate period. It would be based on the:

criteria of the issuer’s rebate incentives plan to which the client previously agreed
client’s Commercial Card goals and identified opportunity

To keep things simple from an accounting perspective, the issuer would not actually deposit the target rebate amount in an account for the client, but they would provide related reporting. Let’s assume an annual rebate schedule. After each cycle ends and the client has paid the balance, the issuer’s report to the client would show:

a “deposit,” increasing the amount in the account if the program was on track to surpass the original rebate target or
a “withdrawal,” reducing the account balance if the program fell short

Consistently low-performing programs would see the target rebate dwindling. Others might see a mix of deposits and withdrawals. Only the highest performing programs would see regular deposits.

The issuer could pair the above with additional reporting to the client that shows unidentified similar clients and their monthly status (advancement or decline).

This is my notion of a workplace psychological thriller. While it would not capture the attention of the movie industry, it could help push under-performing card programs in the right direction.

It is certainly possible that someone else in the industry has voiced (or even implemented) similar ideas of which I am unaware, so I encourage blog readers to comment below. I’m interested in what Frank Martien of First Annapolis Consulting has to say on the topic of Commercial Card rebates, as he has covered it regularly over the years. I respect his work and plan to attend his related session at the NAPCP conference next month.

For more on rebates, visit the related webpage.

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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The sweet and sour of B2B payments.

February 22, 2016 Lynn Larson

In food and drink, a delectable balance of sweet and sour is desirable. Not so in business-to-business (B2B) payments, as the sour represents things like continued prominence of checks and costly manual processes. With so many sweet options available today, such as technology advancements and growing electronic payments, it is time to turn the sour lemons into lemonade. The sweet are getting sweeter and, unfortunately, the sour might never transform. I saw it all this month while analyzing responses to AP Now’s 2016 Payment Survey. Here is a sampling of what I learned.

Preliminary Payment Survey Results

A decent percentage of organizations now use checks for less than half of their B2B payments (sweet!) and they all aspire to drive their success further. Sadly, for a larger percentage of organizations, checks still comprise at least 75% of payments. (The rest are in between.) Among these heavy check users, nearly half are satisfied as-is.

As for Commercial Card usage, sweet and sour again emerge. Most organizations have Purchasing Card programs in place and the prevalence of electronic accounts payable (EAP) solutions is in double digits. However, strategies for increasing card usage are generally lacking. This might be a reason for the nearly equal split between those reporting little to no change in card usage in 2015 (compared to previous years) and those noting higher usage.

For more information about the research, please refer to the press release from AP Now.

Where are We Headed and Why?

In the past year, I have had the opportunity to analyze data from a few different industry surveys. I’m sure I’m not alone in seeing a widening gap between organizations who are basically building sweet state-of-the art lemonade stands with efficient purchase-to-pay practices and those who have failed to progress. Why?

Sweeten a sour payment strategy through greater use of technology and electronic payments.

Survey results have shown that success is not limited to the largest organizations, so the difference could be knowledge. A lack thereof also likely fuels resistance to change. Through the AP Now survey, I saw firsthand that many organizations lack internal knowledge, as in their internal payments-related costs. For tips, see last month’s post on rating your payments strategy and building or refining a metrics plan. Internal knowledge is a good starting point, serving as the catalyst for change.

Then there is industry knowledge. Take advantage of the multitude of options, such as subscriptions to content, research surveys, webinars, and provider technology demonstrations. Of course you cannot do and read everything, but you will gain exposure to what is possible.

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Making a global card program pay off.

February 9, 2016 Lynn Larson

When building a global Commercial Card program, a solid internal foundation, including executive support, sets the stage. However, plans can still go awry if you overlook an important element that influences every region/country on your expansion list. Industry veteran Bogdan Roman describes the impact of local culture and provides some country-specific examples. The following content (part two) concludes my recent interview with him; see also part one.

Bogdan Roman has more than seven years of Commercial Card experience. His specialty is managing and growing global card programs. In addition to the United States and Canada, his experience spans multiple regions/countries including India, Singapore, Australia, UK, France, Germany, Israel, and Brazil. He is currently seeking new opportunities to apply his expertise in helping other companies avoid common pitfalls when embarking on global programs. Email Bogdan or get in touch through LinkedIn.

Cultural Differences

Q: What advice do you have for managing cultural differences?

A: Always be open to multiple methodologies for implementing changes within other countries. In my experience, communication, change management and training must be well thought out. For example, in a previous system upgrade for the North America employees, the core team decided to use a great infographic poster in all locations, but the language had to be customized to make sense in each country. The fun and exciting way to communicate the changes didn’t translate well in India, so the team had to localize the language to each location to ensure the intended message wasn’t lost in translation. The best way to think about it is a global card program with a local touch.

Q: What are some other country-specific recommendations?

A: In Brazil, I would focus on language requirements and also ensure one’s organization is doing its own diligence, receiving input from a legal counsel that is in line with the organization’s risk appetite.

With respect to India, I learned that automated emails from the global card program office didn’t garner the same attention as the ones received from the local executives. I had to engage with our local executives and ask them to send critical messages. Stop trying something that culturally doesn’t work and employ what does work for that culture.

Another global example is doing business in Israel. Due to network partner agreements, I experienced that some global P-Cards might have limited acceptance. As a program manager, what is your backup plan? Have you considered an agreement with a local bank?

In the UK or any other country with a value added tax (VAT) system, I found the tendency of the local finance/accounting teams was to ignore P-Card as a payment method due to cumbersome VAT amount capture. They would move the procurement/payment to a traditional purchase order (PO). I reiterate my earlier recommendation for continuous communication, training and change management with these remote teams to highlight the true P-Card potential, such as speed and convenience. One should always consider what is important to the customer, not just what is important to the administration team.

To make your global card program pay off, understand cultural differences, tailoring your actions and communications accordingly. — To make your global card program pay off, understand cultural differences, tailoring your actions and communications accordingly.

“Stop trying something that culturally doesn’t work and employ what does work for that culture.”

— Bogdan Roman, industry veteran

Final Advice

Q: What else would you add in conjunction with global Commercial Card program success?

A: The best advice I can offer without jumping into too many details is to use your existing resources like your specific bank and network providers. I managed many Commercial Card programs with many different banks and networks. All of them were eager to help and extend as much information as possible.

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