In many companies employees still use their private cards, i.e. cards that are not negotiated through the company to pay for work-related expenses. In practice, this means asking employees to pay with their own money for business related purchases, resulting in exposure to unnecessary risks for both employees and the company. Here are two examples of the risks:

Employees risk their personal finances

A survey conducted on behalf of Eurocard at the end of 2022 in Sweden and Norway shows that almost one third of employees are not reimbursed on time or do not get their money back from their employer at all. Apart from the stress for employees of not knowing when or if the money will be repaid, in the worst case scenario their personal finances may be negatively affected, for example through increased debt or difficulty obtaining loans.

Read more about the survey here (pdf)

The company loses control over purchases

Private cards cannot be used with solutions that make expense management easier, for example being able to view expenses in real time, set purchasing limits and block cards, or with tools that digitalise receipt management. This makes it more difficult for the company to know what expenses are pending before expense reports are submitted. It also increases the risk of both human error and fraud.

Here is the solution:

Choosing a corporate credit card for which the company assumes the credit risk; in other words, it is ultimately liable for payment. As well as sparing employees the need to take a financial risk, this ensures:

• Better monitoring of expenses and transaction data.
• Reduced expense administration.
• More effective procedures to reduce errors and detect fraud.