Lesson learned - Less complexity and more time for your business

The year 2020 is certainly one for the books. An unforeseen pandemic and a foreseen Brexit were the issues that significantly affected the UK and dominated the news.

For companies of all sizes, this meant working their way to a "new normal" on the one hand. In a very short period, some companies had to reform themselves completely and set up digital processes in order to be able to maintain operations, despite all the existing restrictions. Even for many large companies, this meant a massive challenge.

On the other hand, British companies have to deal with impact of Brexit in order to ensure smooth business processes with intercontinental partners in the future. It is already clear that trade between the UK and EU states will be more difficult than before and companies on both sides of the channel will have to deal with significantly more formalities. For some companies, this has meant pooling resources in order to ensure business continuity with the same efficiencies.

This is where Corporate Payments can play a role, because simplified payment can make a significant contribution to automating and simplifying processes in the company and thus creating efficiencies. Departments such as Purchasing or Accounting can particularly benefit here. With our Virtual Cards for Procurement, AirPlus International is hitting a particular nerve and is a reliable partner in these turbulent times to achieve the greatest possible benefit with little administrative effort.

With the "new normal", the demands on companies to take the complexity out of many processes is also growing. IT want to acquire new software licenses quickly and easily. The employee working from home needs a new keyboard and wants to purchase it online. The communications staff needs a new subscription to an important magazine. The marketing team plans to place advertisements on social media at short notice. Sounds simple, but not every employee or department has a company credit card, but they are often required to pay for these services. For procurement, this means more and more internal customers and suppliers to manage. Did you know that One-Off and ad hoc purchases by different employees may seem insignificant compared to recurring, high-priced purchases but are responsible for 80% of admin costs although they account for only 20% of total volume*.

AirPlus Virtual Cards untangle the complexity. Companies can use the virtual MasterCard credit card to make, settle and manage individual B2B payments. The advantages at a glance:

• Full control: You maintain control over spending because you can customise virtual credit cards to your needs.
• Automated payment process: Once you have given the virtual card number to a supplier, it can be used automatically for future payments.
• Transparency: You receive one statement summarising all transactions so you can keep track of your expenses.
• Easy integration: You can easily integrate AirPlus Virtual Cards into your existing finance and controlling systems or processes.
• Strengthen relationships with suppliers: Guaranteed payments improve your strategic relationships.
• Cash-flow improvement: Statements issued at specific times that help you improve your liquidity management, as you can pay a supplier promptly while still receiving extended payment terms.
  
  

Having a Corporate Payment solution in place – just like the AirPlus Virtual Cards for Procurement – helps companies in many ways:  To find out more, check out our Procurement Hub.

* Source: Mercator Advisory Group 2019