BMO Links Corporate Customers To Conferma V-Cards

BMO Financial announced a partnership with Conferma on Monday (July 16) in an initiative to link corporate customers to virtual commercial card solutions.

In a press release, the companies said they are collaborating in Canada to link businesses with virtual card payment technologies for their corporate travel and expense management needs. Conferma will provide its network of travel management companies to enhance BMO’s virtual card offering for joint business customers that need greater efficiency in their payments to travel suppliers.

“We’re helping our clients manage payments effectively and efficiently by removing the need for manual processes,” said BMO Financial Group Head of North American Corporate Card Products Steve Pedersen in a statement. “Paper can be cumbersome for travelers and accounts payable teams, who often need to delay payments because required back up detail is missing. Together, we’re solving this problem by capturing all the information companies need to reconcile — before the transactions occur. Settling is finally accurate, easy and fast.”

According to the press release, the initiative marks Conferma‘s first partnership with a Canadian Big Five bank, though the solution will be available to clients in both Canada and the United States.

The tool enables companies to pay travel suppliers with a single use virtual card number. Each travel reservation is assigned a unique token allowing managers to establish parameters for what can be charged, while the token is also used to facilitate reconciliation.

Pedersen added that these controls ensure that virtual cards are not used for purchases other than those for which the card is intended.

“This significantly lowers vulnerabilities and reduces costs for all companies involved in the process, while taking stress off the traveler, because there’s no ambiguity about approved spending,” he said.

“Adoption of virtual cards is growing at a phenomenal rate, yet there are still too many businesses missing out on this incredible opportunity,” said Conferma CEO Simon Barker in another statement. “Our virtual payment technology adds additional control, security and flexibility, as well as enriched data analysis to meet the needs of the business travel industry.”