American Express and American Express Global Business Travel(Amex GBT) Launch New Integration to Help Streamline Spend Management for Small Businesses
What it is:
- American Express, a leader in global business payments, and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), a leader in B2B software and services for travel and expense, announce a new integration to help small and mid-sized businesses manage their spend and expenses.
- American Express is making it possible for businesses to issue a virtual Card (a dynamic payment option that replaces a physical card number with a digital Card number) for their employees via Amex GBT Neo1, a spend management platform. U.S. Card Members must enroll in Amex GBT Neo1. Once enrolled, Card Members can simply add eligible American Express® Business or Corporate Card accounts into the platform.
- The seamless integration of American Express virtual Cards into the Amex GBT Neo1 spend management platform supports automated expense management processes by combining the capabilities of an expense system, procurement platform, online business travel booking tool, and virtual Card issuance into a single smart ecosystem.
Why it matters:
- The new American Express and Amex GBT integration provides small and mid-sized businesses with better visibility and control over a range of employee spend including budgeting, purchasing with virtual Cards, booking business travel, and streamlined expense processing.
- Manual employee expense management processes cost businesses significant time and money and are prone to human error – issues that are only magnified for small and mid-sized businesses with more finite resources. More than a third (37%) of financial leaders say processing expense reports is a drain on time, according to Amex GBT.
- Digital payments like virtual Cards can help address these issues, as they help automate the expense management process, including employee spend management, with the option for employers to set specific spending controls and permissions.
- Businesses are looking for a seamless management solution that minimizes the traditional complexities of manual expense processes.
How it works:
- With the new integrated features in Amex GBT Neo1, businesses can set budgets, and issue American Express virtual Cards as payment options with controls that support their business needs and help make better, faster purchasing decisions.
- The new integration provides customers with:
- All-in-one platform: Businesses can approve and manage budgets, connect accounting systems, efficiently submit, reconcile, and approve payments in one place, and configure visual dashboards for greater visibility into company spend.
- Travel: Businesses can access Amex GBT’s marketplace, with comprehensive and competitive air, hotel, car and ground transportation services along with exceptional 24/7 traveler support.
- Virtual Cards: Businesses can generate and assign American Express virtual Cards to specific users with flexible parameters to control employee spending, while also enabling individuals to spend online or at point-of-sale through their mobile wallet.
- Transaction Data: Businesses get near real-time visibility to review and reconcile spend within a single platform.
- Built-In Integrations: Businesses have the ability to access built-in integrations to leading supply marketplaces and finance systems without the need for complex system integration.
- Mobile App: Businesses have app access to capture receipts and book travel on the go.
Who it’s for:
American Express’ integration with Amex GBT Neo1 is available for small to mid-sized U.S. businesses with eligible American Express® U.S. Business or Corporate Cards that are seeking an easy way to plan, monitor, purchase, approve, and reconcile employees’ business spending.
American Express and Amex GBT on-the-record:
“American Express and Amex GBT are coming together to help improve spend management for small businesses. We know managing employee expenses is becoming more complex, and our small business customers are looking for a solution that combines a range of features and capabilities,” said Dave Holmes, Vice President, Enterprise Strategic Partnerships, American Express. “Now, for the first time, businesses have access to American Express virtual Cards within Amex GBT’s Neo1 platform, providing a better way to manage a variety of business expenses.”
“We see businesses of all sizes facing increased complexity managing growth, spending and productivity,” said Fiona Hastings, Vice President of Neo1, Amex GBT. “Growing businesses simply don’t have time for cumbersome expense reports, disjointed budgeting processes, and the hours it takes to rebook and support more frequently disrupted travelers. Amex GBT is excited to bring Neo1 to more small and mid-sized businesses through our partnership with American Express, to help them overcome today’s spend management challenges while paving the way for a smart, more efficient future where all employee spending needs can be serviced in one place,” added Hastings.
Source: American Express
