Use Your Company Card To Save On Finances
Corporate credit cards are a distinct planet within the greater credit card galaxy. They are different from personal and commercial credit cards in the way that they are issued by a company to its employees for the payment of approved business-related expenses, most like travel expenses.
When it comes to payment, corporate cards can be divided into two categories; individual payment cards and company payment cards. If an employee holds an individual payment card, he is responsible for submitting his own expense reports and paying the issuer directly for any charges. For company-payment cards all company-sanctioned charges are paid by the employer.
Corporate credit cards can be tricky to use, as some employees might be tempted to use them for personal expenses, only to get caught later and incur shame and expenses. However, they definitely offer some great benefits to employees, such as:
- One of the major benefits of corporate cards, especially company-payment cards, is that the company-sanctioned expenses are the employer’s responsibility, so the employee does not have to pay anything out of his pocket.
- If the company-payment cardholder leaves money in a checking or savings account for a long time, or in this case doesn’t use the money at all, the interest earned means additional funds can accrue.
- Company credit cards that offer electronic expense reporting will automatically update the card purchases on the corporate expense reports, eliminating the need to manually enter purchase information. Employees might only have to enter information about expenses not made using the card, i.e. using cash or check. This will save considerable time and effort.
- Having a corporate card may qualify an employee to earn rewards on the company’s money. These rewards could be in the form of air miles, reward points, or others.
- Traveling with company credit cards might grant access to airport lounges of major carriers worldwide.
- Making payments with a company-approved card while on business travel lessens the chances of endangering the employee’s personal information or becoming a victim of fraud.
- Automatic insurance coverage offered by company credit cards might cover cardholders for the entire duration of their journeys, for insurance such as 24-hour door-to-door travel accident insurance, carry-on baggage insurance, primary rental car insurance and emergency medical assistance.
Corporate credit cards, when used carefully and responsibly, can be treated similar to personal credit cards for enjoying the benefits.
