The days of using corporate credit cards only for hotels and business lunches are long gone. These days SMEs are demanding complete payment solutions that serve the needs of all departments, and travel and entertainment payments are just one part of the payment solution’s function. The benefits should be visible to every person from secretaries to the chief executive.

First the right corporate payment solution should help your business save time, effort and actual dollars as you spend. Rewards are an important factor, but don’t forget to look for savings within the payment functions, credit cycles and efficiency of a payment solution.

Secondly, a payment solution should offer visibility into and control over your company’s spending, which is increasingly important as regulatory compliance demands more and more of our time.

Below is the infographic that shows how that translates for different business functions and departments within a company:

Procurement
Your payment solution should allow your procurement department to set supplier and employee limits for greater spending control. Visibility of spending will also show you which regular suppliers may be willing to negotiate preferred rates due to repeat business.

Marketing
A comprehensive payment solution should allow the marketing department to pay big expenses such as online advertisement, media buys and MICE expenses. These are big-ticket items that can go a long way towards building up your bank of rewards.

Human Resources
Job postings or recruitment services can be paid for using a payment solution, creating trackable spending data that can then be used to better plan future expenditures.

Administration
Your administration team has a long laundry list of relatively small payments to keep track of, including everything from restocking paper supplies to ordering courier services. A comprehensive payment solution makes payment easier and management of administration budgets more efficient.

Finance
Finance departments love a payment solution that allows better control through centralised billing and the ability to set limits for employees as well as vendors. It also can generate plenty of high-quality, relevant data for your finance people to analyse.

Employees
Enabling your employees to manage their travel expenses easier, with faster reimbursements, is sure to put a smile on their faces.

Owner
Owners of SMEs know all about the cash flow crunch hitting businesses globally these days, and they want a payment solution that offers them an additional line of credit that won’t put more strain on their balance sheet.

While you may find payment solutions that meet many of the above criteria, there are few that will tick all the boxes and at the same time deliver Asia Miles rewards the way that American Express Cathay Pacific Corporate Cards will. Every eligible business spend on our Cathay Pacific card programme turns into rewards for both the company and the employee card member — a unique offering that you’ll only find at American Express.

To download infographic, click here.

Additional Resources

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