Virtual Card acceptance made easy.

March 13, 2017 Lynn Larson

Do suppliers resist or refuse to accept your Virtual Card payments? If so, you are not alone. There are also suppliers who initially agree to Virtual Card acceptance, but later change their mind. A big underlying problem is a manual acceptance process. In addition, a growing list of Virtual Card-using customers can mean dozens of different systems for a supplier to access. The good news is you can expand your playbook for on-boarding suppliers by introducing them to a solution. Keep reading to learn more about supplier challenges and an available remedy.

Supplier Challenges

I recently spoke with Nick Babinsky, Director, Business Development, with Billtrust, a provider of accounts receivable (AR) technology. He elaborated on the manual acceptance process that causes pain for many suppliers. A typical scenario starts with the supplier receiving an email notification about the Virtual Card payment. In some cases, a supplier’s AR staff has to click multiple URLs before reaching the applicable card account number. Then, to process the charge, AR manually keys the card account information. It does not end there, as AR needs to close the related invoices in their ERP system, which can also involve manual keying of remittance data. This type of process does not help a supplier in terms of card acceptance fees either.

Nick summed it up by relaying three common supplier objections to Virtual Card acceptance:

We don’t have staff available to key any more Virtual Cards or P-Cards that come by email.
We’re concerned about the security of manually handling credit card numbers.
The cost of accepting card payments is too high.

A Solution

Billtrust’s Virtual Card Capture solution addresses the pain points noted above. Nick conveyed that it:

eliminates the need to enter a card number into a terminal
can automatically apply remittance information in the supplier’s ERP system (the solution also supports remittance pertaining to straight-through payments/push payments)
helps a supplier qualify for Level 3 and Large Ticket interchange rates

Of course, my immediate question was, “How does it work with the emails a supplier receives (pertaining to Virtual Card payments)?” The answer: Through the utilization of robotic process automation (RPA). The emails are re-routed to the Billtrust solution and RPA takes over.

According to the Institute for Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence (IRPA AI), “Robotic process automation (RPA) is the application of technology that allows employees in a company to configure computer software or a ‘robot’ to capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other digital systems.”

Overall, between the technology and a Billtrust team who handles exceptions, a supplier’s pain is alleviated.

Case Study

Download a two-page case study that offers additional insight and/or access more information from the Billtrust website.

Offering suppliers a potential solution to address their pain points can motivate them to accept card payments.

How the Solution Affects You

As an end-user/buying organization, you can feel confident that your Virtual Card payments to suppliers who use the Billtrust solution will be processed in a timely manner (specifically, on the same business day they are sent). No more calls or emails about the Virtual Card not working because the supplier waited too long.

Final Thoughts: What You Can Do

To strengthen your partnership with suppliers:

Talk with them about their challenges related to Virtual Card acceptance.
Consider sharing the Billtrust case study.
Contact your provider for any suggestions they have about easing supplier challenges.
Ensure that, at a minimum, you are initiating payments to suppliers quickly, ideally less than 30 days (e.g, within 10 days of invoice receipt).

See more content related to ePayables and Virtual Cards.

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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Planning for RFP success.

March 5, 2017 Lynn Larson

While conducting a request for proposal (RFP) process for a card issuer is typically not on anyone’s list of favorite activities, planning carefully can prevent future pain. At the National P-Cards on Campus Conference last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a general session panel on the topic of RFPs. Between the panelists and participating attendees, I gained a fresh perspective on four key aspects, as described below. Even if you are not doing an RFP any time soon, it never hurts to take notes now, so you are more prepared when the time comes.

Financial Model of Issuers/Banks

We know interchange feeds the revenue share incentives offered by issuers. However, there is the broader economic climate. Interest rates are expected to rise, which puts more pressure on banks. In turn, speed of pay could play a bigger role in proposals and, subsequently, your next contract. Is your organization willing to pay the issuer more quickly or frequently than in the past to maximize revenue share? It helps to understand factors like this when embarking on an RFP.

Whether to Include Treasury Services

An RFP that combines one or more card programs along with other banking/treasury services could be more appealing to issuers and result in greater benefits for you. A drawback is that one bank may not be the best choice for every piece. Some conference attendees also pointed out the lack of synergy between the card program management team and treasury department that would make RFP collaboration difficult. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile option to explore in case it might be right for your organization.

Who to Invite to Bid

How do you decide which issuers to include? I was impressed with attendees who retain an active and evolving database of options, so they do not have to scramble later. The session also revealed it can be advantageous to take cold calls from issuers. Hear them out, as it could affect your future RFP and bidder list. In addition, prior to creating an RFP, attend industry conferences and speak directly with card issuers. Besides obtaining contact information (for the appropriate RFP recipient), ask questions that encourage meaningful discussion, such as:

How do you help clients grow their programs?
What resources do you offer for “X?” Consider what is most important to your organization, such as on-boarding suppliers, technology for auditing transactions, etc.
What do you recommend for solving “X” challenge? You might walk away with actionable solutions to help you today.

Duration to Keep an RFP Open

There were mixed opinions on this aspect. Eight weeks seems to be a good target that gives issuers ample time. Despite some content being boilerplate in nature, issuers (and their respective networks) have to do a lot of customization to properly respond to an RFP. On a related note, the timing of your RFP can matter. Launching one at or near year end (especially if only open for a few weeks) sends a message that your organization may simply be doing a “pricing exercise.” Poor timing and/or too short of a duration may prevent some issuers from responding.

Panelists and Conference Host

I want to acknowledge and thank the panelists from the session:

Larry Andress, Bank of America
Orson Morgan, Visa
Kathy Ann Sheils, Cornell University

Kudos to the conference host as well: Professional Development Group (PDG).

Use good planning to untangle the maze of a tedious RFP process.

Additional RFP Content

The aspects addressed here are just four of many. See other RFP content provided by Recharged Education, including previous blog posts:

RFP Assistance

If your organization is interested in external assistance for its next RFP, submit a contact form to learn how Recharged Education can support your process.

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Cybersecurity threats abound.

February 14, 2017 Lynn Larson

Threats can lurk in strange places, so, as a card program manager, it is necessary to think broadly. Driving this point home, the presenter at a recent cybersecurity conference shared how a financial services company was breached through an unlikely source. It gave fraudsters access to all the company’s files, including sensitive client information. The source? A new thermostat in the building for which the company never changed the default password. If this story sounds familiar, it is reminiscent of the fraudsters who accessed Target’s POS systems in 2013 through the login of an HVAC company. Apparently, some companies did not learn from Target’s experience. What about your organization? Stories like these highlight how, even though you might be protecting data within your line of job duties, additional threats may still remain. Following is another example from the cybersecurity conference presenter and some things you can do.

Another Threat

Mobile devices represent another broad threat. The cybersecurity presenter recommended that, if employees access work email via their devices (and who doesn’t do this?), they should:

lock their device when not in use
have a strong password of letters, numbers, and characters to unlock the device

The presenter went on to describe how, if an employee were to lose their device, the employee should contact the company IT department, who should be able to remotely wipe out that employee’s phone to prevent fraudsters from using it. Lots of “should” statements. There are also complicating factors if it is a personal mobile device that the employee uses for work.

Could fraudsters access your card-related data through a back door?

Who is Responsible?

Going back to the first example, whose job was it to change the default thermostat password? It likely fell to maintenance personnel—people you would never think about as being potential gatekeepers to sensitive files. In reality, cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Are all employees in your organization trained on security at least annually? What are your policies pertaining to mobile devices?

What You Can Do

If you are a card program manager wondering what you can do with this broad information, a good start is simply having a discussion with your management and/or IT representative. Since you handle sensitive information, it might also be beneficial for you to be part of a more general team within your organization that looks at security holistically. At a minimum, make sure you know:

where your card-related data is stored, including any sensitive/personal cardholder information
who has access and whether the access is appropriate
the potential vulnerabilities that could impact your program; for example, you do not want a lost mobile device in another part of your organization to open the door to fraud
what protective actions are possible to keep the data separate and restricted

Finally, continue to incorporate security topics into card program training.

Available External Resource

Ironically, just as I was about to publish this post, I was notified about the Verizon report, Data Breach Digest: Perspective is Reality, which is filled with cybercrime case studies and tips. If you want to dive in (it is a 100-page report), download it from: http://www.verizonenterprise.com/verizon-insights-lab/data-breach-digest/2017/.

“Data breaches—and the lingering postbreach
aftereffects—aren’t just an IT
security problem: they’re an enterprise
problem.”

— Verizon's Data Breach Digest

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