Sabre Meshes E-Payments with Corporate Travel

Industry analysts are increasingly warning corporations of the time and money wasted through outdated, manual travel and expense management practices. The challenge is exacerbated when businesses not only use outdated T&E management tools, but use outdated payment tools, too.

Sabre is looking to ease the friction in corporate travel expensing and payments by combining its solutions for both. The company announced Tuesday (March 17) that its Virtual Payments payment and settlement service is now available for users of its corporate travel system GetThere.

According to Sabre, its digital payments solutions are now integrated at the point of sale for corporate travelers that book their travel through GetThere.

The solution offers a digital credit card number for business users to book their hotel and additional travel reservations. When the business trip is complete, Sabre automatically matches the booking and reservation information with the payment details, digitally reconciling an automatically generated expense report so employees do not have to manually do so.

Sabre’s new travel and payment solution also allows corporations to customize travel policies and spending limits, so the virtual card number can only be used for proper travel expenses.

“Integrating Sabre’s Virtual Payments with GetThere improves accuracy, efficiency and compliance by enforcing policy spending limits and automating expense reconciliation, said Sabre Vice President Yannis Karmis. “Additionally, fraud exposure is reduced as virtual card numbers can be configured to contain value and validity controls specific to each travel segment.”

At present, Sabre said that hotel booking and payment is available through the solution, but the company will add flight booking and airfare reconciliation in the coming months.

Sabre’s expanded T&E management solutions emerge at a time when experts say corporations continue to use outdated methods. Employees in a recent KDS survey reported their T&E experience to be a “necessary evil,” “complex” and “illogical” as their businesses waste money on slow, complicated, manual tools.