Dive Brief:
- American Express is integrating its virtual cards into SAP’s Concur expense service, the card giant said in a press release on Tuesday.
- With the integration, companies can issue virtual cards to their employees, set spending limits, generate card numbers to enhance security, and reconcile business expenses, the companies said.
- The feature is available to select U.S.-based American Express corporate and business customers using Concur’s expense service, but the companies will expand access to it in the third quarter, the release said.
Dive Insight:
With the latest move, American Express is adding another feature to improve SAP’s Concur platform. Last year, American Express introduced real-time expense notifications to the Concur service, a feature that automatically logs purchases made on American Express corporate cards and categorizes them in Concur.
American Express’ real-time expense notification and virtual card features aim to trim the time spent on manual expense reporting. The new features are designed to analyze transaction data and consolidate it within Concur, the company said.
“Together, we’re offering customers a highly automated, connected spend management ecosystem that streamlines tedious expense processes for employees and administrators, without losing the oversight or control that large organizations require, Eva Reda, Amex’s executive vice president of global commercial services products, said in the press release.
Beyond its partnership with SAP, American Express has extended its virtual card offerings to small and large businesses alike. Last year, the card giant introduced virtual card numbers and security codes for smaller business customers, enabling them to pay their suppliers securely without a physical credit card.
Meanwhile, other up-and-coming payments players view virtual cards as a key tool for improving payment security. New York-based Ramp, which provides expense management software services, also offers its virtual cards for its corporate clients.
