<B>Targeting Cards</B>
<B>Name:</B> Julie DeLong
<B>Company:</B> Owens Corning
<B>Headquarters:</B> Toledo, Ohio
<B>U.S.-booked air volume: </B>$16 million
<B>Total T&E volume:</B> $50 million to $60 million
<B>Innovation:</B> Increasing per-card volume, strengthening corporate card policy
Over the past three years, Owens Corning has revamped corporate card policies and strengthened revenue-sharing agreements with American Express by eliminating unused cards, suspending those with delinquent unpaid balances, pushing late fees to travelers and booking group and meeting hotel charges on cards.
Owens Corning also is piloting an online expense reporting solution from Barrington, Ill.-based VIN.net International, with a companywide rollout at year-end.
While global business travel manager Julie DeLong won't be able to quantify gains until the end of the year, "we will absolutely see savings by pushing more volume onto the cards and improving revenue sharing," she said.
DeLong, who became a travel manager three years ago after 16 years in Owens Corning's purchasing department, began her tenure by searching for areas where the company was losing money on the revenue-sharing agreement. She quickly found there were many employees who hadn't used their cards for some time, driving down per-card revenue, a key metric in the American Express agreement.
DeLong requested biannual reports from Amex on unused cards, then canceled those accounts. At Owens Corning, its 3,500 cardholders must file expense reports--on paper, for now--but the company pays American Express directly. While the company had issued a ban on personal charges shortly before DeLong became travel manager, there still were delinquency problems, as the company doesn't pay Amex until it receives travelers' expense reports.
In the past year, American Express, at DeLong's request, provided online monthly random audits of card accounts, so DeLong could spot personal charges or delinquencies.
"We put a lot of responsibility back on the employees," DeLong said. "But if we're late because they're delinquent, we take a loss on our revenue share because of it. We now won't pay the delinquency fees that incur after 60 days."
Also in the past year, the travel department created a policy authorizing suspension of a card that has incurred any late fees. "We need to enforce that these delinquencies cannot continue," DeLong said. "These are strict guidelines."
Implementing online expense reporting will help Owens Corning reach its no-delinquency goals, DeLong said, because receiving timely paper reports and receipts from employees who travel frequently can be difficult.
Owens Corning also is making strides to book all group hotel charges on the corporate card as well, instead of having the hotel bill the company directly. Charging group and meeting volume to the corporate card allows the company to better capture total companywide hotel spending, DeLong said, which improves negotiations.
The company designated a downtown hotel as its preferred local property, with the stipulation that all meetings will be booked on the planner's American Express card.
"Actually, they were thrilled, because they'll get paid quickly," DeLong said. "In the case that the meeting sponsor doesn't have a card, the hotel will accept the meeting but direct him back to us, and we'll give him a card."
DeLong also has worked with human resources to stress card policy to incoming employees.