MasterCard
is piloting its own virtual card number technology and aims for a full global release
in early 2014, according to group head for global T&E products and
solutions Richard Crum. The new Travel Controller solution will connect with travel
management companies by hosting an application programming interface.
MasterCard
already offers virtual card numbers based on technology from such third-party
providers as U.K.-based company Conferma, but that is available only to issuers
using the MasterCard InControl processing platform. The new Travel Controller product
will be made available to all MasterCard issuers so they can integrate virtual
card numbers into lodge card solutions for TMCs.
A lodge
card is a centrally billed account placed with a TMC that a corporate client
uses to pay for all bookings with that TMC. Traditional MasterCard- and
Visa-issued lodge cards are less effective than those offered by AirPlus
International and American Express because of weaknesses in reconciling booking
and payment data. Also unlike AirPlus—Crum's former employer—MasterCard and
Visa issuers struggle to append to each transaction such corporate information as
employee numbers and cost center codes because a traditional lodge card
provides just one number to cover all transactions by all employees.
Virtual
card numbers bridge the gap by assigning a one-off 16-digit card number to each
individual transaction. As a result, different corporate information can be
applied to each booking and reconciliation is perfect—booking and payment data
become essentially the same, with the card number acting as a unique
identifier.
"We
are getting reconciliation up in the high 90s but it isn't 100 percent,"
Crum acknowledged. "Travel Controller closes the data quality gap. What's
more, lodge cards have been predominantly used for air, but we have also built
Travel Controller for hotel, car rental and anything else that can be booked
pre-trip. It's much more than what a lodge card is today. We have built an API
that is sophisticated enough to work across multiple TMCs, multiple geographies
and multiple spend categories."
Virtual card numbers are
gaining momentum within the travel industry. Conferma recently announced a deal
to provide its technology to all Visa Europe issuers and said it is negotiating
a similar deal with Visa International.