INTRODUCTION

Payment Options

Individual Billing/Company Payment offers two payment options:

1. Billed Balance

American Express creates an internal remittance file capturing balance due for each Card Member at a control account level specified by the client. The company may receive a hard-copy remittance advice statement at cycle cut indicating the full amount due to American Express. This payment option should be paid in full every month to avoid reconciliation issues for the company.

 

2. Approved Expenses

Company pays American Express based on approved expense reports or CPC transactions. Companies may send remittance information to American Express via transmission. This is designed for companies who wish to transmit a flat file electronically to American Express. The company utilizes an American Express proprietary file format.

 

PRODUCT FEATURES

Remittance Message (Message Line 1)

This message will appear on the Card Member statement along with the payment credited to the account. This literal is driven by a required two-digit number which is located on the Remittance Detail Record in the file layout (see Sec. IV - File Layout and Sample for more information). These two digit codes and their corresponding messages are listed below:

• 01 CORPORATE REMITTANCE RECEIVED
• 02 CORPORATE DEDUCTION OF CREDIT BAL
• 03 PROCEEDS OF EXPENSE VOUCHER
• 05 DEBIT REMIT FOR AIRLINE CREDIT
• 07 ADJUSTMENT

Descriptive Billing Message (Message Lines 2 through 4)

To assist Card Members in reconciling the account balance on their Corporate Card and CPC Statements, you can also include detail message lines on the statements. These message lines will appear on the Card Member statement below the remittance message, and will appear in the sequence in which they are received on the remittance file. Each literal will be followed by the appropriate data provided by the company (e.g., Expense Voucher #123456789 - the number is supplied by the company). This literal is driven by a two-digit number located on the Remittance Detail Record in the File Layout (see Sec. IV - File Layout and Sample for more information). These two digit codes and their corresponding messages are listed below:

• 01 Expense Report #
• 02 Expense Voucher #
• 03 Airline Ticket #
• 04 Trip Date
• 05 Job #
• 06 Client #
• 07 Period Ending
• 08 Week Ending
• 09 Week #
• 10 Travel Authorization #
• 11 Agency Name
• 12 Third Party Processor
• 13 Expense Report #s
• 14 Expense Voucher #s
• 15 Airline Ticket #s
• 16 Trip Dates
• 17 Job #s

NOTE: There are singular and plural versions of the descriptive billing messages.

IMPLEMENTATION

Overview

The implementation process for companies enrolling in Individual Billing / Company Payment or CPC Electronic remittance consists primarily of two components:

1. Establishing the appropriate communication linkages between the company and American Express.
2. Creating a remittance file in the American Express proprietary format.

Consulting

American Express will provide you with the appropriate contact for consulting on all aspects of the product implementation. This contact will assist you in ensuring a smooth implementation, and will be available to answer questions on:

• File specification fields
• File testing
• Funds testing

Security

Companies should always utilize backup and security procedures that will expedite the accuracy and timeliness of remittance file processing. This section will suggest some Backup and Security arrangements which, if established by the company, will minimize problems associated with files which cannot be processed by American Express.

1. Backup Files

The company should create two files:

• One file will be sent to American Express
• One file will serve as a backup copy and will be retained by the company

Should a file sent to American Express prove to be unreadable, lost in transit or contain file errors, a new file will be required from the company in order to post the funds.

APPROVED EXPENSES

TRANSMISSION FILE PROPERTIES

File Properties – Corporate Remittance Transmission

• Supported Protocols: Include all supported protocols
• Data Set Name: Determined upon setup
• Data Format:
  • Record Length: 220
  • Block Size: 220
  • Record Format: Fixed (f)
• Data Presentation: Alpha/Numeric

Establishing the File Link

American Express supports various protocols for clients to send or receive files. Listed below are protocols that American Express currently supports.

1. HTTPS. HTTP with SSL (secure socket layer) encryption for security. This option is the easiest since it does not require any certificates. American Express can also offer Tumbleweed Client software free of charge to those users who are needing replacement software. Supported browser versions:

 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1, Netscape Navigator 7.1 and 7.2, Mozilla FireFox 1.0.4

 

2. FTPS. This is an industry standard using the FTP protocol over an SSL channel. Supported softwares:

 

Tumbleweed 4.7, CuteFTP Professional 7.0, WS_FTP Professional 2006, LFTP 2.6.3, Curl 7.13.2, FileZilla 2.2.14, IglooFTP Professional 3.9, SmartFTP 1.0

 

3. SFTP (SSH). This is an FTP-like transfer protocol which occurs over an SSH-encrypted channel. This option allows you to authenticate yourself with a public key or a password assigned to you by American Express. Supported softwares:

 

Tumbleweed 4.7, OpenSSH (SCP and SFTP) 3.8p1, VanDyke SecureFX 2.2.9, SCP and SFTP shipped with Solaris version 2.9, PuTTY SecureFile Transfer (SFTP) 0.58, CuteFTP Professional 7.0, WinSCP 3.8.2, Tectia 5.1.3.8

 

4. AS2. This standard is a Server-to-Server HTTP based file transfer protocol. It can be used to securely send any type of file over an IP connection (including over the Internet). Any client certified by the Drummond Group is supported.

 

For more information concerning Electronic Data Transmission, please call (800) 337-7283 Monday - Friday 6:00AM - 4:30PM MT.

 

Electronic Transmission Request Checklist

• Protocol (connectivity) testing
• Supply company with file specification
• Arrange kick-off conference call with all appropriate American Express parties and company representatives. The purpose of this call is to address questions and issues and to clarify requirements
• Receive test files from company for review of content/format
• Implement process
• Post-implementation review

Transmissions File Testing

Once the Company has reviewed the file specifications, they will generate a test file to transmit to American Express. If the file requires corrections, a second file will be required. After the file has been received, tested and approved, the American Express Electronic Transmissions Team representative will notify the company.

American Express accepts files based on the following frequencies:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

The timely submission of the file is critical. There is no automatic notification of the receipt of a good file. American Express will contact the company if there is a problem, and the company must correct any errors and submit a new file, as remittance files cannot be manipulated by American Express. The processing of the remittance files is contingent upon the receipt of the payment. Failure to submit a remittance file either on time or in the appropriate format may cause delays in the timely posting of payments to Card Member accounts, possibly resulting in Card Members billing delinquent and delinquency charges being assessed. Please note that it will take 24 to 48 hours for funds to process to accounts once the file is run.

APPROVED EXPENSES

(1) Load Number: Unique 10-digit number assigned by American Express at the time of setup.

(2) Creation Date: Gregorian date file was created by company, including 4-position year

(20090515).

(3) CID                                               Unique 6-digit number assigned by American Express.

(4) Book Number:                              4-position identifier assigned by American Express at the time of setup.

(5) Test File Indicator:                        Allowable values are:                            TT=Test File

                                                                                                                        Blanks=Production File

                         ****Test File Indicator MUST be changed to blanks upon production

(6) File Sequence                  “Numeric sequence of files send by COMPANY (e.g., first file will contain 01, second file 02, 99th file 99, 100th file rolls back to 01).

Number:

Note:

ALL NUMERIC FIELDS ARE RIGHT JUSTIFIED, FILLED WITH LEADING ZEROS (9 in PIC field).

ALPHA FIELDS ARE LEFT JUSTIFIED, FILLED WITH TRAILING BLANKS (X in PIC field).

(1) Credit or Debit

Indicator:

                                        Indicates if the remittance amount is a credit or debit. Any value 0 or greater would have a plus; any value less than zero would have a minus.

                                        - Credit - reduces balance on Card Member account (i.e., a remittance to AMEX)

                                       + Debit - increases balance on Card Member account (i.e., reversal of previously paid expense)

(2) Dollar Amount: The dollar amount for the Card Member.

(3) Corporate Card Number: The file must contain a valid Corporate Card Number (click here for mod-10 check).

(4) Remittance Msg Code: The selected standard American Express literal that is the message appearing next to the payment credited to a Card Member account.

(5) Descriptive Msg Code: The code which drives the descriptive bill message on the billing statement. These messages will appear on the statement in the same sequence as they are on the file (click here for codes).

(6) Client Data: The client data which corresponds with the selected Descriptive Msg.

1. Corporate Card Remittance Total Dollars: Must be Credit amount
2. Corporate Card Remittance Total Records: Must be value greater than zero

Note: There should be one ‘Transmittal Header’ record and one ‘Summary Trailer‘ Record per file.

IBCP QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

This is a guide to ensure successful submission of funding and remittance files. Below you will find outlined the top items that cause delays in the processing of remittance files.

1. Requirement number 1 and possible consequences if not met

   Include Load number on both the remittance file and funding.

   • File: The file will reject, prompting a call from American Express for correction and resubmission of file.
   • Funding: If the Load number is not present on the ACH or wire, it is unrecognizable, causing the payment to be applied to the Unidentified Ledger.

 

2. Requirement number 2 and possible consequences if not met

   Remittance file and funding must match.

   • Remittance files will not be processed until full payment is received.

 

3. Requirement number 3 and possible consequences if not met

   Ensure the allocation is provided prior to the transfer.

    

   It is recommended that they be sent 3 business days (Monday-Friday) prior to cycle cut or contractual due date.

   • If payment is received before the remittance file, it will be applied to the Unidentified Ledger, which may cause a delay up to 7-10 days for research and processing.
   • This will result in a missed cycle cut.

 

4. Requirement number 4 and possible consequences if not met

   Employ Mod 10 Check. This process validates American Express® Corporate account numbers.

   • If there are invalid account number(s) in the file, it will cause the entire file to reject.

 

5. Requirement number 5 and possible consequences if not met

   If sending an ACH the CCD+ format is required. Please ensure the Load number is included in the 7th addenda section of the ACH transfer.

    

   If sending a Fed Wire, please ensure the Load number is included in the Originator Beneficiary Information (OBI) field of the wire transfer.

    

   Please ensure the load number is preceded by the word LOAD (e.g., LOAD066436).

   • If the Load number is not present on the wire or ACH, it is unrecognizable, causing the payment to be applied to the Unidentified Ledger.