American Express expands virtual cards for US commercial customers

American Express has expanded its virtual card capabilities for US commercial customers, as businesses increasingly adopt virtual cards for commercial payments.

The company is adding new functionality through its @ Work platform and extending virtual card access for travel-related payments through Conferma.

Amex Corporate customers can now create, manage and use Amex Virtual Cards in @ Work, the platform they already use to manage their Corporate Programme.

The system is used for Corporate Card applications, employee spending oversight and reporting, and can also connect with enterprise resource planning and expense management software.

By adding virtual cards to @ Work, American Express is placing the payment option inside an existing spending management workflow.

The cards can be used for supplier payments, everyday business purchases and travel expenses.

They can also be issued to authorised users such as contractors, interns and company guests who do not have a traditional Corporate Card.

American Express said customers using @ Work can set spending limits, apply timeframes for use, and impose country and merchant category code restrictions.

Separately, American Express has also expanded virtual card functionality for customers using its Business Travel Account with Virtual Payments, a centrally billed account for business travel expenses.

Those customers can now create, manage and use Amex Virtual Cards through solutions from Conferma, which acts as a third-party token facilitator for the cards.

American Express said the Conferma setup includes spending controls, enhanced transaction data, customisable reporting and digital receipt capture through the mobile app.

Amex Virtual Cards in @ Work are currently available to select US-based American Express Corporate Programme customers, with broader availability planned.

American Express Virtual Cards with Conferma are currently available to US-based American Express Business Travel Account customers.

American Express executive vice president of global commercial services products Eva Reda said: “Businesses want to simplify how they pay for things while maintaining control and visibility into spending across employee expenses, supplier payments and business travel.

“Virtual cards can help solve many of these challenges, which is why we’re making it easier for customers to create and manage them in the software and digital wallets they’re already using while preserving the trust, security and service our customers expect from Amex.”