Today’s expense technology is transforming travel processes from beginning to end

By Bryan Yurcan

Technology marches inexorably onward, and for corporate travel and expense programs, that march is increasingly away from physical plastic cards and toward virtual forms of payment. Virtual cards – card numbers generated for specific limited uses – are gaining traction but so far mostly for applications such as non-employee travel or one-off payments.

While travel programs still haven’t eliminated plastic cards entirely from the expense ecosystem, larger trends are now converging – namely mobile adoption, connectedness and artificial intelligence – which are poised to further disrupt and transform the T&E space.

“Trends show virtual cards are quickly set to become just as relevant as physical credit cards,” says Bradley Matthews, senior vice president for U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems. “If we stopped there, however, we’d miss a significant opportunity to re-envision the end-to-end experience.”

The innovative ways in which technology changes corporate travel payments won’t end with virtual cards, Matthews explains, noting that mobile payments continue to experience tremendous growth, with more than half of merchants in the US accepting them.

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