Introduction: Virtual Cards
With the rise of e-commerce and online purchasing, virtual cards have become more popular than ever. They are similar to credit cards, but because each purchase has its own unique card, the amount is limited to what has been approved.
Virtual cards offer a wide range of opportunities to reduce costs, optimise payments, track, and control your spending. In this blog post, we will discover why virtual cards are a life-changing solution for procurement spending in your organisation.
Replacing invoice-based purchases
Virtual cards offer an alternative to invoice-based purchases. With traditional invoice-based transactions, purchasing can be a very cumbersome process due to the internal processes required. In addition, these processes can be time-consuming and incur costs. Invoice-based purchases are great for higher-value purchases, but they are really too costly for managing indirect spend—especially when it comes to long-tail spend where supplier management and invoice processing can easily become more expensive than the purchase itself if purchased by invoice.
Controlled and tracked spending
Each virtual card is associated with the specific purchase, making it easy to automatically collect all the data and documentation related to the purchase. Moreover, the virtual card is limited to a specific amount for the purchase, so it is easier to control spend. Overall, virtual cards help the organisation to be compliant and prevent uncontrolled spending.
Using virtual cards removes the need to onboard and maintain suppliers in your internal systems, resulting in significant savings from internal, manual work.
Increased security
Virtual cards provide more security compared to traditional credit cards, as a unique card is issued for each purchase. This significantly diminishes the chances of fraudulent activities and unauthorised expenditures.
The Future is Now
As technology continues to evolve, the benefits of virtual cards will expand, encompassing more innovative features and integrations. Their ability to adapt to the changing landscape of B2B procurement and business needs positions virtual cards as a cornerstone of the future of managing and controlling spend.
Mazepay offers an end-to-end solution based on virtual cards which simplifies and makes long-tail spend management easier. Processes are automated and empower employees with easy requests and payments. Contact us today to learn more.