• FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

Personal credit cards still reign supreme in biz travel: 4 strategies

Alyssa Evans
by Alyssa Evans
March 22, 2019
  • Accounts Payable
  • Payments and Transactions
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

The payment method employees use when traveling can have a major impact on your T&E process – for better or for worse.

And in 2019, employees are still using personal credit cards (65%) more than company credit cards (37%) for travel expenses, according to a new survey from Wex and MasterCard.

What gives personal cards such staying power?

For some companies, the choice could be for employee convenience or part of a payment strategy. But the survey points out it could also be because employees want to collect loyalty rewards and points during business travel for personal use. In fact, over 80% of people surveyed said they had a frequent flyer membership.

Make the most of it

No matter the reason, there are ways your finance team can manage personal card usage more effectively. Try these four tactics to keep your T&E process smooth and your employees happy:

1. Recommend rewards cards to employees. As soon as new travelers come on at your company, you’ll want to make sure credit cards are a part of the general T&E conversation they have with their manager, and/or the training they undergo with your team.

By suggesting that they apply for a credit card that allows them to collect rewards points, employees will start to see using a personal card for business as an opportunity, not a nuisance.

2. Be sensitive on an individual level. Every employee has a unique financial situation. For some, paying for hotels and flights upfront on their own card may be difficult to swing.

To make sure your finance team doesn’t feel the repercussions of those possible issues, consider whether you could offer alternatives in some cases to certain employees. For example, if an employee approaches their manager or Finance with concerns about covering costs, your company could provide a cash advance or a prepaid debit card instead.

3. Promise timeliness. In a similar vein, you’ll want to remind A/P that it’s important to reimburse employees who use their own personal cards as soon as possible.

You can even set and publicize a specific timetable of when employees can expect reimbursement by. Quick turnaround will keep them from feeling any animosity about having to cover the costs upfront.

4. Take advantage of both. For occasional travelers, using a personal card may work fine. But for frequent travelers, you know that a corporate card could be more effective.

If your company hasn’t already, it’s a good idea to discuss giving corporate cards to specific employees who meet certain criteria (number of trips per year, total spend each quarter, etc.) to advance your process and simplify things for everyone.

Of course, with any corporate card program, it’s key to outline the criteria in your policy and clearly communicate why certain employees are given corporate cards, so other employees don’t feel confused or slighted.

Alyssa Evans
Alyssa Evans
Alyssa, a member of the CFO Daily News staff, has written extensively on business and finance for several years. She has produced content for accounts payable professionals and finance executives and has developed whitepapers and infographics for the finance and accounting industry.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader