WEX Takes The Virtual Card To Latin America

Corporate payments firm WEX is pushing virtual card technology within Latin America and has announced a new partner to help the cause.

The firm revealed this week that it is working with Argo, a corporate travel and expense management company operating in Brazil and Mexico, to offer a virtual card solution for corporate travel managers. Argo will integrate WEX’s virtual card number (VCN) technology as an additional payment option for its corporate and travel agency clients.

In a statement, WEX LATAM CEO Jose Roberto Kracochansky said the region is rapidly adopting this kind of corporate payment technology.

“Latin America is becoming one of the most promising regions in travel payments and is an untapped market for VCN,” he said. “We are thrilled to further support local businesses through WEX VCN. The advanced payment technology, robust and intuitive solution, top service and knowledge underscore our commitment to an industry leader in business-to-business solutions.”

Brazil, the companies said, is especially boosting its adoption of VCN for corporate payments.

In a separate statement, Argo CEO Luigi Botto pointed to the benefits virtual cards can have for corporate payers.

“With WEX payment solutions and Argo, our clients will have better control over their cash flow and will gain operational agility by automating payments and reconciliation of travel expense,” the executive said.

Earlier this year, WEX announced that it would shutter it consumer-facing travel card solution in an effort to focus on the corporate travel payment market.

Virtual cards are widely considered to be a more secure payment method for B2B payments. VCN technology enables payers to customize their payments, creating a one-time-use card number specified for a certain recipient and for a specific transaction amount, reducing the risk of misuse or fraud.

But some FinTech players have said virtual cards don’t always live up to their paperless reputations. In corporate travel, for instance, another B2B payments firm, Confirma, has highlighted the challenge businesses like hotels face when receiving virtual card numbers via fax, requiring manual data entry.