Comdata Adds Spend Escalator to ePayables to Save Clients Time, Money
Comdata is making it easier for clients who use the B2B payment and financial technology provider’s virtual credit cards, or ePayables, which it says will drive adoption. The company is so convinced its new Spend Escalator technology is beneficial, it has applied for a patent.
Comdata already integrates its virtual credit cards system into its clients’ accounting systems to expedite the payment and reconciliation process, according to Meitra Aycock, vice president of product and strategy, and Spend Escalator expands on that integration to reduce the effort of managing and enrolling vendors to accept card payments. A virtual card—or ePayable—is a single-use, 16-digit virtual credit card which can be used to securely and quickly make supplier payments.
Users of Spend Escalator enroll vendors and convert spend volume at nearly double the average rate of other Comdata clients, according to the company. The automation results in greater cost reduction by minimizing costly check payments and manual review for finance staff.
“When it comes to accounts payable automation, we focus our development on easy administration and vendor enrollment because we believe those are the two biggest drivers of a successful program,” said Vijay Ramnathan, senior vice president of product and strategy at Comdata. “A lot of firms and banks sell virtual credit cards, but our mission is to help clients build a world-class ePayables program. Spend Escalator is our latest innovation in support of that mission.”
The B2B virtual card market is big business, estimated at more than $95 billion in gross spending in 2016, according to Mercator Advisory Group. WEX Inc. announced in April the corporate payment solutions provider was promoting its virtual card program to travel suppliers, such as hotels, car rental agencies and tour operators because of the advantages the program offers to them, including getting paid faster, easier reconciliation across borders and improved analytics.
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