SAP Concur Expense has integrated U.S. Bank's Instant Card virtual card, enabling cards to be issued instantly to users' mobile wallets, with subsequent purchases made via the cards flowing directly into Concur's expense management and reporting system, according to the companies.
Concur is the second expense management provider in recent weeks to integrate U.S. Bank's Instant Card, following TravelBank, which in late September partnered with the issuing bank to offer the virtual card through its own platform. For TravelBank, adding the Instant Card was intended to serve its core client base of smaller companies, which includes many businesses that don't have a traditional corporate card program. But for Concur, which counts major enterprise-level organizations among its clients, adding the card addresses specific spending use-cases, such as client and contractor spending, and employees who travel too infrequently to be issued a permanent corporate card. Other potential uses include an employer sending funds to an employee who is stranded while traveling or a property management company issuing a virtual card to a contractor making unanticipated repairs on a property, Concur said.
Also this week, TripActions—which is gunning to challenge Concur's dominance in the enterprise booking and expense segment—added full expense management capabilities to its Liquid physical and virtual payment card platform, becoming the latest in a spate of T&E providers to marry an expense management and reporting system with a payment tool under one roof.