Corporate Card Innovators Dive Into Virtualization

As FinTechs and other financial service providers drive commercial card adoption, virtual card technology becomes an increasingly popular focus of innovation initiatives, particularly as corporates demand solutions to support a remote workforce. This week’s Commercial Card Innovation Tracker finds Barclaycard and Visa among the latest to embrace v-cards to elevate employee spend management and supplier payments.

Barclaycard Debuts V-Card For Expense Management

With an eye on remote workers, Barclaycard is rolling out a new virtual card solution designed to enhance employee spend and expense management. Dubbed Precisionpay Go, the new Visa-powered solution supports digital spend management for U.K. businesses at a time when physical cards cannot address the needs of professionals working from home. In its announcement, Barclaycard pointed to its own research that found it takes an average of eight days to deliver a physical card to an employee. Further, 63 percent of employees say they take responsibility for filing their own expenses. Precisionpay Go automates spend management while accelerating access to spending capabilities for professionals.

Visa, FAB Roll Out Corporate Virtual Cards

Visa and the UAE’s First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) are partnering to introduce virtual corporate cards to the financial institution’s business clients to accelerate and automate B2B payments. Albawaba reports said that FAB has rolled out its Central Travel Account solution, which streamlines and consolidates employee spend data and enables managers to more seamlessly manage T&E spend. The solution is paired with FAB’s Visa Virtual Corporate Card, which integrates Visa’s Payables Automation technology to enhance supplier payments for corporate end users. In its announcement, FAB pointed to virtual card technology’s support for greater security as well as enhanced spend control as key features for businesses.

Access Bank Taps Visa For SMB Debit Cards

Nigeria-based Access Bank has announced the rollout of new debit cards for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the result of a collaboration with Visa. The bank is rolling out its Business Debit Card, which is designed to streamline expense management and promote the migration away from cash, reports in Vanguard said. The card also offers a range of benefits, including discounts on logistics services, digital payment acceptance solutions, Microsoft Office 365, Twitter Ads and other offerings.

Tipalti Enhances Corporate Card Adoption In AP

Accounts payable (AP) solution provider Tipalti is looking to drive commercial card adoption in B2B payments, even with vendors that don’t accept cards. Through a collaboration with Plastiq announced last week, Tipalti has integrated capabilities that allow businesses to pay their vendors via corporate card, while Plastiq facilitates the movement of funds to vendors. “More businesses will be able to use their corporate cards as a funding source, while both recouping their rebates and reducing risks associated with AP processes while still automating workload,” said Plastiq CEO and Co-founder Eliot Buchanan.

Paynetics, Unionpay International Collaborate For Business Cards

With a focus on businesses operating on B2B and B2B2C digital marketplaces, Paynetics and Unionpay International have announced a partnership that will see Paynetics issuing cards across the European Economic Area for businesses in need of enhanced payment capabilities. The companies said their collaboration will connect businesses of all sizes to payment card solutions with a range of value-added features, including cross-border payment and multi-currency capabilities.