The Corporate Card Goes Contactless

As B2B FinTechs explore the value of the commercial card, they’re integrating card payment capabilities across more scenarios, from vendor payments to employee expense management. This week’s roundup of Commercial Card Innovation also finds growing interest in digitizing and mobilizing the corporate card, either through virtual card generation or mobile wallet support, at a time when contactless payments remain on the upswing.

BofA Expands Contactless Biz Card Service

Bank of America’s contactless commercial card payment offering is expanding into new markets, the financial institution announced recently. Its mobile wallet capabilities are now live for corporate clients across the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA), as well as the Asia Pacific (APAC) regions.

The bank first launched the mobile wallet solution for corporate customers in the U.S. and Canada in 2018. The technology allows users of its Corporate Travel and Purchasing cards to make payments with those cards using mobile wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay, with Bank of America highlighting the speed, security and efficiency of mobile, contactless payments in its announcement.

Apple Pay Lands More Commercial Cards

Bank of America isn’t the only institution expanding use of mobile wallets for corporate cardholders. This week the U.K.’s NatWest announced its commercial cards would now be compatible within Apple Pay, highlighting the security of mobile wallet transactions as a key factor behind the decision. Its subsidiaries Ulster Bank in Ireland, as well as Royal Bank of Scotland, are rolling out the functionality for their commercial cardholders as well.

In a statement, NatWest Group Head of Customer Propositions & Delivery, Commercial Banking Matt Tuck said NatWest is the first of the Big Six banks to offer Apple Pay support for small business and corporate cardholders.

Center Wields Cards For Expense Management

Employee expense management technology firm Center has announced the rollout of its card offering, the Center Corporate Credit Card, to augment its solution. Through a direct integration with its expense management platform, Center’s corporate card solution allows for real-time visibility into employee spend while allowing professionals to also set limits and custom controls on those cards. Issued by Mastercard, the card offers interest-free as well as flexible payment options, Center noted, adding that it can now also integrate directly with the accounting platform QuickBooks Online.

Emburse Adds Pre-Approvals To The V-Card

Also focusing on employee expense management is Emburse, which recently announced the launch of its virtual card solution that automatically enforces company spend policy with pre-approval capabilities. Emburse’s v-card offering allows businesses to generate the single-use cards from within Chrome. River EXPENSE, allowing employees to access a virtual or physical Expense Card that can include restrictions surrounding dates, spending limits, merchant amounts, and other factors. Once the card is used, an employee is notified to take a photo of a receipt to record the transaction data and integrate it into its digital wallet for reporting and reconciliation.

Womply Eases Corporate Card Acceptance

Adding to the list of growing B2B FinTechs tackling the complex issue of a lack of commercial card acceptance is Womply, which has announced the debut of Womply Bills. Designed for business owners, the solution aims to help professionals spend company money using commercial cards even when those cards are not accepted.

Designed for bill payments, Womply Bills acts as the intermediary between the small business and a vendor to charge the card and then send a payment to the recipient. It may take as long as seven days, however, for funds to land at the recipient’s account.

Mastercard Expands ANNA Money Partnership

ANNA Money, a FinTech platform to streamline and automate administrative and financial tasks for startups and entrepreneurs, has expanded its Mastercard partnership to augment its existing business debit card offering. While ANNA Money did not indicate exactly what will come of the expanded partnership, the companies did not that ANNA is accelerating its migration away from scandal-ridden Wirecard Card Solutions U.K., its current card issuer. ANNA plans to secure its own eMoney and banking licenses, it said.

DayTek Capital Pursues Card Capabilities

Over in Australia, DayTek Capital has reportedly secured an Australian Financial Services License, which will enable the FinTech to accept deposits. Reports in AltFi said the license is also instrumental in enabling DayTek to issue its prepaid Infinity card, a card solution designed for small and medium sized businesses as well as retail customers. The neobank noted in a statement that it plans to offer an array of diverse banking products, with plans to debut an AI marketplace to facilitate interactions between customers.