Who Should Use a Virtual Credit Card

In the ever-evolving world of payment technology, virtual credit cards continue to be a hot topic. Why? Well, virtual credit cards are a great choice for high-performing teams that require the ability to purchase products and services to quickly complete tasks and get the job done. This form of payment is easy to issue to employees and will help your finance team monitor budgets, reduce the risk of fraud, and control spend–all while making sure your workers do not need to pay out-of-pocket then wait for a reimbursement.

While the benefits are clear from a finance perspective, who on your team should use a virtual credit card? Quite simply, everyone!

Your Stakeholders Will Benefit from Virtual Cards

Your employees need a fast and efficient way to make purchases and keep operations moving. With many working remotely, access to a corporate card is now more important than ever. If employees need to jump through hoops to make necessary work-related purchases or are delayed paying vendors, deadlines could be missed and your company could gain the reputation of being a late pay. Thankfully, virtual credit cards can be issued quickly and solve a variety of payment scenarios for different user groups across your organization. Here are a few examples:

Scenario #1: Vendor Payments

Your remote employee needs to pay a retainer for marketing automation program support. The employee does not have a corporate card and the vendor requires a 50% deposit before they will begin the project. Rather than wait for your accounting department to cut a check or trigger an ACH, the employee is issued a virtual credit card. They can then pay the vendor, and the finance team will rest easy knowing there is a set limit and the corporate card number is protected.

Scenario #2: Office Supplies for Remote Staff

Your entire in-office team has been shifted to remote. To complete their day-to-day tasks, they each need a printer, paper, and ink cartridges; however, there are various printing needs, requiring different models and ink types. Rather than have your office manager complete customer orders for all of your workers, you issue each employee a virtual card number. This way, they can purchase the printer and ink they need instantly. Since the virtual card is linked to your corporate card account and synced with your expense management tool, all of the purchases will be easy to track and reconciliation will be a breeze at the end of the month.

Scenario #3: Freelancers/Contract Workers

From time-to-time, freelancers or contract workers are the way to go for special projects or to cover for an employee on a leave of absence. While issuing these workers a corporate card probably isn’t the path you would like to take, they may still have vendors to pay or materials to purchase on your behalf. Rather than fork over the corporate credit card, you can create a virtual card in their name that has a spending limit and expiration date that coincides with the end of the project they are working on. The freelancer will be able to make purchases as needed to complete the project, and you won’t be putting company money at risk. Further, you will have total visibility into spend.

A Clear Path to Virtual Cards: US Bank + TravelBank

With US Bank and TravelBank, you can easily send a virtual credit card to anyone, anytime, anywhere using Instant Card™. To set-up an Instant Card, simply enter basic information, including recipient details, and set a limit and expiration date. Then, virtually send the card to the recipient–no need for stamps or the wait time of snail mail. The card is immediately ready for use to pay for work expenses, purchase supplies, and more. This results in a consolidated solution that does it all.

You will be able to manage budgets and review transactions for all virtual cards in TravelBank’s expense management platform, making visibility into spend and reconciliation a breeze.

Virtual Cards are a Win for Employees and Finance Teams

Agility is key for high-performing teams, and this includes being able to purchase products and services quickly to get the job done. By having the ability to issue virtual credit cards, you are able to ensure your team maintains the utmost efficiency while also keeping corporate spend in check.

If you’re looking for a way to enable contactless payment, enhance expense control, mitigate the risk of fraud, and have greater visibility into spend, virtual cards are the way to go. Not only will your finance team benefit, but stakeholders across your company as well.

Interested in learning more about TravelBank’s all-in-one expense, travel, and card management platform? Let’s find some time to chat.