8 Questions to Help You Rate Your Card Provider

March 7, 2018 Lynn Larson

How would you describe your organization’s relationship with its Commercial Card provider? I have asked this question of end-users in the past and received diverse responses ranging from frustrated venting to glowing reports. Wherever you are at, a stellar relationship with the card provider is an important part of achieving and maintaining program success, while a poor relationship can drag it down. If you already have a service level agreement (SLA) with your provider, ensure you are using it regularly to evaluate their performance. Either way, following are questions to help you identify what is working well and what needs improvement.

Evaluation Questions

Does your card provider:

Express interest and a willingness to be an active part of your program? For example, are they willing to come onsite to meet with management, demonstrate technology, etc.?
Return/acknowledge calls and emails in a timely manner (e.g., within a day or two)?
Take appropriate action to resolve issues and get answers?
Listen to what you say? For instance, listening attentively to learn more about your unique needs.
Proactively communicate about upcoming changes that affect you, current issues, industry trends, etc.?
Inform you about technology features and reports that could benefit your program?
Suggest ways to make your program and payment strategy stronger?
Offer program reviews and supplier on-boarding services?

What are your biggest frustrations? Schedule time with them to discuss your evaluation. They cannot fix something if they don’t know it is broken. Any such meetings should result in a clear action plan to which both parties agree.

To increase your chances of getting a high level of service from your card provider, begin by being a good customer.

Are You a Good Customer?

Even if your card provider has room for improvement in the customer service category, the other piece of the equation is your organization. Consider the following questions to determine how you rate as a customer.

Does your organization:

Have realistic expectations of the provider?
Clearly communicate any concerns?
Return calls and emails in a timely manner?
Take advantage of the offered technology, including self-service features?
Ask the provider how you can be a better customer?

A good provider/end-user relationship pays off. See a related blog post about a common card provider frustration. In the end, though, sometimes an organization just does not mesh well with a particular provider representative. You might need to try to a new/different relationship manager before you give up on the provider entirely.

See also information about the request for proposal (RFP) process. If you plan to attend the NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference next month, maximize your experience by meeting different providers.

About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With 20 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…

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The Payments Iceberg: Innovation and Realities

February 25, 2018 Lynn Larson

In the 1970s, anthropologist Edward Hall developed the iceberg model of culture to express how visible aspects like fine arts are dwarfed by what is hidden below the surface (e.g., relationships, attitudes, approaches). The concept could be applied to the payments industry as well. This month, while at the Cards and Payments on Campus Conference by PDG, I attended sessions about emerging technology that dazzle the mind and represent the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of great things happening. Yet, I also encountered—as I do every time I am at an event—challenges that have plagued end-user organizations for decades. It’s the reality that sits solidly under water. As a result, I have formed three conclusions, as outlined below. Take a look and see what you think. I welcome comments and always enjoy hearing different perspectives.

Three Conclusions

Innovation has multiple personalities.
Gaps between different entities keep getting bigger.
Payments do not always make the priority list.

The Multiple Personalities of Innovation

At the conference, Matt Dill of Visa addressed the future of payments. Some advancements, like Amazon Go (“a new kind of store with no checkout required”), perfectly illustrate how innovation can be baffling, appealing, and necessary all at once. We may not always understand how something works, but we think it is cool. The practical, necessary side of innovation include factors like payment convenience and security. Payments have to seamlessly mesh with our ever-expanding, technology-driven world. Innovation will continue. It’s exciting.

Widening Gaps

I heard attendees ooh and aah over what Matt showed. Then, during Q&A at the end, some questions pertained to longstanding struggles end-user organizations have (e.g., trying to pay remotely for the hotel stay of a traveling employee and hotels requiring a copy/photo of the card). Throughout the conference, end-users shared the same types of challenges that I heard 15 years ago.

On one hand, technology is soaring. On the other hand, some organizations have not changed anything about their payment strategy in decades. Providers have solutions for common challenges, but some organizations are not pursuing them. The gaps are widening, which leads to the last point.

Payments Do Not Always Make the Priority List

In many cases, executives within end-user organizations have too many initiatives to manage and sales goals to meet. No one has time to address something if it is not absolutely broken, so B2B checks remain. Checks are costly and inefficient, but, as some execs would argue, they get the job done.

Real, across-the-board change will not occur within the end-user community until there is an overhaul of decision makers. We need more leaders who: 1) embrace payments innovation at a consumer level, and 2) see the value in similarly aligning B2B payments. Finally, the decision makers need to be at industry conferences to see what is possible.

See more about payment strategies.

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Before You Accept: Questions to Ask Interviewers

February 14, 2018 Lynn Larson

Approximately 29% of workers plan to look for a new job in 2018, according to a survey from Accountemps. If you are one of them and fortunate enough to earn interviews, expand your preparation beyond researching the employer and anticipating interview questions. Consider what you will want to know about the job (besides the compensation package). In particular, for a Commercial Card program manager or administrator position, following are possible questions to ask interviewers at some point during the interview process to help you evaluate whether the job could be right for you.

Possible Questions

Before the interview, determine what is most important to you. What program drawbacks or challenges can you deal with? Every program has them. What will be too frustrating for you? Gather a mix of information—facts, opinions, and perceptions.

Program Facts and Metrics

What card products/solutions are used today?
Who is the card provider? When does the contract end?
What technology solutions are used for program management?
What is the current program size (spend, transactions, cardholders, geography)?
What percentage of B2B payments are captured via the card program?

Organization Vision

What are the organization’s program goals and objectives?
How does the organization want to grow the program (e.g., more cardholders, additional countries, new allowed spend categories)?
Where do cards rank in terms of the overall payment strategy?

Perspectives, Buy-in, and Support

What are the biggest program challenges?
What are the biggest opportunities?
What are the most notable program successes to date?
Tell me about program buy-in by cardholders, their managers, and executives. Does anyone resist or resent the program?
How do procurement and accounts payable provide program support?

Auditing and Accountability

What have recent audits revealed about the program?
Who performs transaction auditing? How does the auditing occur (manually or via technology)?
Is everyone, including executives, held accountable for their respective card program role?

Look for the right job for you. Ask questions about the card program to evaluate whether the job would be a good fit.

About the Position

What qualities do you feel are most important in a card program manager?
What should be the priorities of the next program manager?
Is the role a decision maker for the program?
Are you looking for the next program manager to instigate change?

Final Thoughts

While everyone will have different priorities, I think there are some universal red flags. I would steer clear of a program that:

is not supported by management
is plagued with audit findings
fails to hold employees accountable

Conversely, an organization eager to improve and/or expand the card program—with the program manager leading the way—would be a good sign. Still, it pays to dig deeper before accepting any position, especially if/when some of the questions posed to you by an interviewer seem strange.

For related resources, such as tips for hiring a program manager/administrator, visit the Program Management page.

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