The Best Business Travel Card for You
- Last updated: April 26, 2024
- Business payments, Travel and expense management
After challenging years that saw a significant downturn in the travel industry due to the pandemic, business travel has been making a strong comeback. In fact, the frequency of business trips has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and Deloitte expects a full recovery to 2019 spend volume by late 2024 or early 2025. PwC highlights that businesses spend more than £240 billion each year on corporate travel, with approximately 20 per cent on airfare. This trend signals renewed confidence in face-to-face meetings, conferences, and on-site visits. As companies navigate this resurgence in business travel, the need for efficient expense management has never been greater.
You may want to know more about why business travel cards can be a great benefit to your company, what different types are available, and which features you should consider when choosing the best one for your company’s needs. Whether you are a small business with occasional travel obligations or a large corporation with a workforce travelling for business purposes, there is a business travel card out there that is perfect to match your needs.
What are business travel cards?
Business travel cards are designed to facilitate and manage expenses that occur during business trips. They are often issued to employees for use exclusively during business-related trips. The cards are linked to a company account or reimbursable expense system, allowing employees to charge travel-related expenses directly to the company. Moreover, many offer features and benefits tailored to corporate travel needs.
Key features of business travel cards:
Expense tracking: Detailed reporting features make it easy to track and categorise expenses.
Spending controls: Companies can set spending limits and restrictions on business travel cards for keeping control over travel expenses.
Rewards and benefits: Many business travel cards offer rewards, such as airline miles, hotel points, or cash back on travel-related purchases via partnerships. These perks can help offset travel costs and provide additional value to cardholders.
Centralised billing: Instead of employees using personal funds and seeking reimbursement, business travel cards centralise billing, making it easier for finance teams to manage and reconcile expenses.
Enhanced security: Business travel cards often come with advanced security features like fraud protection, EMV chip technology, and the ability to quickly freeze or deactivate cards if lost or stolen.
Good to know: You might also know the term APEC business travel card which is a travel document issued to business travellers who are citizens of the so-called APEC region which refers to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s participating economies. This document that goes along with your valid passport can replace a visa for up to five years when visiting other APEC economies (such as Indonesia, Chile, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, China, Canada or Papua New Guinea) if pre-clearance has been obtained during the ABTC application process.
Different types of business travel cards
Corporate cards are issued to employees and are linked to the company. They offer comprehensive expense management tools and are ideal for companies with frequent travellers.
Prepaid travel cards, on the other hand, are loaded with a predetermined amount of money before the trip. Once the balance is depleted, the card cannot be used, making it a great budgeting tool.
A specialised version of corporate cards for travel are lodge cards – they are designed specifically for business travel and offer centralised control, policy enforcement, and seamless integration with expense management systems. You can also keep control by allowing for bookings from preferred service suppliers only.
Why do you need a business card for travel?
Over the last years, business travel cards have emerged as invaluable tools to streamline the financial aspects of corporate travel. These specialised cards are designed to simplify expense tracking, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance financial controls for both employers and employees. By opting for the right business travel card, companies can optimise their travel budgets, improve employee satisfaction, and empower their finance teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.
On the other end: Every business person who travels a lot should be able to focus fully on the preparation, execution and follow-up of the trip and not have to worry about finances. Business travel cards give them this freedom, while also providing more security for the company and saving time for everyone involved.
The advantages of a business travel card summarised:
Enhanced employee satisfaction: Requiring employees to cover costs upfront and await reimbursement places undue financial stress on them. A business travel card alleviates this burden, ensuring employees can focus on their work without financial worries.
Significant time savings: A business travel card automates expense tracking and categorisation, simplifying the reporting process and saving valuable time for all involved.
Improved security: A business travel card provides a unified and secure payment method, reducing the risk of fraud and unauthorised transactions while ensuring consistent tracking and control over expenses.
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What to consider when finding your perfect solution
Ask yourself the following questions to find out which solution is best for your business?
How many business trips does our company take?
How many people in the company have to make business trips?
How is expense management organised in the company?
What rules and workflows exist in the finance teams?
How much flexibility should be granted to employees?
How secure does the solution need to be?
How scalable does the solution need to be?
Yokoy Expense
Streamline your travel and expense management
Say goodbye to manual data entry, lost receipts, and complicated reimbursements. Yokoy handles everything from start to finish, for simple T&E management at any scale.
Why Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards should be part of a holistic spend management solution
At Yokoy, we envision a travel experience where companies and their employees can enjoy unparalleled flexibility, security, and peace of mind during business trips. We believe that the essence of business travel should revolve around achieving business objectives and building relationships, rather than being bogged down by financial complexities and administrative tasks.
Our Yokoy Smart Lodge Card is designed as a holistic solution that effortlessly integrates with your company’s spend management strategy. It offers centralised control over travel expenses, allowing finance teams to monitor and manage expenditures more effectively. On top, the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card also supports your team in enforcing company policies, ensuring that corporate travel aligns with organisational guidelines and budgetary constraints.
For instance, let us consider a common policy where flights under four hours should be booked in economy class. Without proper enforcement, employees may opt for premium or business class seats and seek reimbursement later, leading to overspending and frustration within the finance department. The Yokoy Smart Lodge Card addresses this challenge by linking directly to your company’s travel policies. It restricts booking options to comply with your guidelines and preferred service suppliers, thereby mitigating the risk of non-compliance and ensuring that budgets are respected.
Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards: 7 benefits you should know
Yokoy’s Smart Lodge Cards offer a comprehensive solution for business travel management, combining convenience, automation, compliance, and real-time insights to help companies optimise their travel expenses and streamline their processes effectively.
1. One card for all your travel bookings:
Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards consolidate all your travel bookings onto a single card, making it easier to manage and track expenses. This eliminates the need for multiple payment methods and simplifies the booking process for flights, hotels, and other travel-related expenses. With one card, you have centralised control over all your travel expenditures, making it easier to stay within budget and manage cash flow effectively.
2. Fully automated travel expense management:
Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards integrate seamlessly with expense management software, automating the entire expense tracking process. Expenses incurred using the card are automatically recorded and categorised, reducing manual data entry and minimising errors. This automation streamlines the expense reporting workflow, saving time for employees and finance teams alike.
3. Automated reconciliation:
Gone are the days of manually matching receipts with expense reports. Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards offer automated reconciliation features that match transactions with corresponding receipts or invoices. This not only speeds up the reconciliation process but also ensures accuracy and compliance with company policies and tax regulations.
4. Real-time insights:
Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards provide real-time visibility into your company’s travel expenses. With access to up-to-date spending data, managers and finance teams can make informed decisions, identify trends, and proactively manage budgets. Real-time insights empower companies to control costs more effectively and optimise their travel spending.
5. Built-in compliance:
Compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements is crucial for any business. Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards come with built-in compliance features that enforce company spending policies and regulatory guidelines. For example, you can set spending limits, restrict categories of expenses, or enforce travel policies directly through the card’s settings, ensuring adherence to company rules and regulations.
6. Easy administration:
Managing corporate cards can be a complex task, but Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards simplify administration with user-friendly interfaces and intuitive controls. Card management tasks such as card issuance, activation, deactivation, and reporting can be easily handled through the Yokoy platform. This ease of administration reduces the administrative burden on finance teams and ensures smooth card management processes.
7. No more expense reports:
One of the most time-consuming aspects of business travel is preparing and submitting expense reports. With Yokoy Smart Lodge Cards, there’s no need for employees to manually create and submit expense reports. All transactions are automatically captured, categorised, and reported, eliminating the need for traditional expense reports. This not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of errors and ensures compliance with company policies.
Yokoy Smart Lodge Card
One card for all your travel bookings
Securely pay for flights, rail, hotel, and travel services with one central Smart Lodge Card. No transaction fees, no foreign exchange fees, no card fees.
Next steps
Many rewards travel cards have high annual fees. Yokoy’s Smart Lodge Cards are different: They are the perfect match to Yokoy’s corporate cards and expense management software. Together, they create a comprehensive solution designed to streamline processes, enhance control, and improve efficiency. You or your team members can securely pay for flights, rail, hotels, and travel services with one central smart lodge card, fully integrated with your travel management provider. You do not have to worry about transaction fees, foreign exchange fees or card fees when taking care of business commitments.
Automated reconciliation: Capture travel expenses in real time. Yokoy matches and reconciles them with the corresponding transactions automatically.
Real-time insights: See all your travel bookings and transactions in real-time so you can respond to anomalies as soon as they happen.
Built-in compliance: Eliminate rogue travel and enforce your travel policy by enabling your employees to pay for trips with the Yokoy Smart Lodge card.
Are you interested in trying it for yourself? You can book a demo today and find out how Yokoy’s solution can help elevate your business.
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