Corporate prepaid credit cards are widely used to inspire actions, reward behaviours, and simplify different kinds of corporate payments.
Unlike cheques, corporate prepaid credit cards can be customized to your unique business needs. You determine who gets a card, how often the card is reloaded, whether the card can be used to obtain cash, and where the money can be spent. Corporate prepaid credit cards can be personalized, issued to employees, or branded for promotional functions.
Read on to discover the top five uses for a corporate prepaid credit card.
1. Pay and Reimburse Employee Expenses
Prepaid credit cards are more cost effective, expedient, and secure than distributing checks. Expense and reimbursement monies are easily dispensed, as and when needed. The amount of time needed to process payments is reduced to minutes, a huge decrease from the time required to issue and print checks. Costs are further condensed as checks are never lost or dispersed in error. Employees are not required to have a standard bank account, receive money immediately on the card, and are not subject to bank charges.
Prepaid credit cards also simplify rewarding and celebrating employees' achievements. They are ideal to give for gifts, bonuses, awards, anniversaries, retirements, or gift exchanges.
2. Direct Marketing and Rebates
Prepaid Credit Cards are a perfect direct marketing tool for traditional retailers, service providers, and other businesses. The advantages include:
- Strong call-to-action motivating recipients to act immediately
- Tracking of how consumers use card
- Much higher response rate (four to seven times higher) than coupon-based marketing promotions
Prepaid cards can be activated when the receiver makes a certain response, such as fill out a survey, visit a certain store, or purchase a particular item.
3. Travel and Expense Management
Prepaid corporate credit cards reduce paperwork, financial risk, and can be reloaded for continuing necessities. It gives a corporation the option of allowing ATM access, and limit use to designated merchants. Corporations are able to closely monitor corporate travel, daily expenses, training, relocation costs, and other business expenditures. Additional benefits include:
- Set daily and monthly spending limits
- Dispense cards individually or in bulk
- Fund cards on activation
- Restrict usage to specific merchant categories
- Supply selective access
- Set alerts for card usage
Employers do not need employees to keep records of their receipts. They are able to analyze expense trends within the corporation, and keep track of the number of transactions at specific merchants. Analysis are more accurate because transactions are captured instantly.
4. Insurance & Wellness
More companies are choosing prepaid to administer their employee health and dental benefits. These "Pay Direct Cards" help reduce administrative costs and transforms claims submission and payment into a streamlined process. Any healthcare professional, hospital, product or service provider with a computer and Point Of Sale (POS) terminal can file claims online and directly receive payment at the time of service.
The card improves plan holder satisfaction by immediately confirming coverage for services provided, while eliminating out-of-pocket expenses and avoiding the disappointment of having claims declined post service. Plan holders can also check their account balances, plan limits and more, online 24/7.
More workers participate in employee wellness programs when incentives are posed. Survey results indicate that almost three times as many employees choose to participate in corporate wellness programs when wellness incentives were offered. Wellness programs have been shown to increase the health and output of employees and their families.
Prepaid credit cards are considered one of the most powerful incentives, motivating employees to sign up and participate in a program.
5. Brand Recognition
Co-branded or custom prepaid credit cards can increase brand recognition and loyalty to a large number of people, particularly for consumer rebate programs.
Prepaid cards with the business' brand keeps your company name in front of customers, and in their wallets. Plus co-branded prepaid credit cards also build employee loyalty and help them further identify with the company since everything they purchase with the card is associated with the company they received it from. It's a highly visible and valued touchpoint. After all, spending someone else's money is always more fun than spending your own.
