In a world of struggling supply chains and unexpected economic circumstances – ensuring cash flow and profitability is a top priority for many businesses.
But shockingly, over half of businesses are still relying on manual checks for their B2B payments – meaning they don’t have a clear view on what their teams are spending and expensing. This is set to change, however as digitisation is increasingly re-shaping the way businesses keep track of their money.
One product of digitisation which has rapidly grown in popularity among corporate organisations is virtual cards.
In the following article we’ll explores 5 ways in which virtual cards could help businesses unlock their full potential.
Increased time and cost savings
Managing business payments requires meticulous tracking of invoices, follow-ups, and reconciliation, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Virtual card payments, on the other hand, offer automated systems that integrate seamlessly with accounting software, simplifying financial management and saving your finance and accounting teams valuable time and money.
Fortified security and fraud protection
The financial impact of fraud can be devastating to businesses, potentially leading to significant financial losses, disruption of operations, and damage to reputation. Lacking the magnetic strip and visible numbers of physical cards, virtual cards are much harder to infiltrate by unauthorised persons, offering businesses crucial protection against fraudulent activity.
Virtual card providers often also offer online management platforms where cards can be cancelled or paused instantly if suspicious activity occurs or a card is suspected as lost. Many of these platforms also allow the cards to be un-paused or replaced from the same place. By relying on virtual cards for payments, businesses can make more secure payments and better protect their finances from the impact of fraud.
Greater visibility over spending
Constantly generating a stream of real-time data and reports, virtual cards allow you to know exactly what your teams and departments are spending and where. What’s more, virtual cards can be issued instantly, allowing employees to start spending immediately, with all expenses tracked within the same centralised platform.
By having greater visibility over your business transactions and cashflow you can work on cutting unnecessary expenditure, better budget and forecast, and in turn, focus on profitability and growth.
Empowered employees
Virtual cards can be used in a variety of ways: shared amongst members of a company for things like online subscriptions and software; created for a single use that becomes void after the purchase it was created for; or for individual transactions such as in-person purchases, attached to a specific balance. This provides clear purposes and limits for the cards, empowering employees to take payments into their own hands while making them feel engaged and valued.
Employees can request funds when they’re low or checking their PIN if they’ve forgotten it. Financial controllers can then respond to top-up requests, pause and block cards, and monitor budgets.
Improved vendor relationships
Maintaining good relations with suppliers and vendors is key to keeping a supply chain running smoothly. Through utilising virtual card payments, businesses can by-pass the issues and errors associated with manual payment and in turn improve key relationships through faster and more accurate transactions.
Virtual card payments also allow businesses to seamlessly handle both large, recurring payments in addition to one-off smaller needs allowing the versatility and flexibility needed to adapt and grow.
