Staff at the Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS) are to trial a virtual commercial payment card that will enable them to make corporate purchases including software licences, subscriptions and travel passes without needing to use their personal credit or debit cards and then claim reimbursement.

The university is the first institution to pilot a virtual purchasing card developed by OCBC Bank that can be issued for single or recurring use. It enables employers to set spending limits, validity periods and the categories of goods and services the card can be used to pay for.

“We want to digitalise the way we work and that extends to all aspects of the university’s operations,” says SUSS planning and finance director Kwek Peck Lin.

“This virtual card solution makes payments easier for our employees — everything can be done via mobile app — and for our finance department, too.

“In terms of security, virtual cards provide more assurance compared to traditional commercial card solutions, and that was also an important factor for us when deciding to come onboard.”

The virtual purchasing card uses Visa Commercial Pay which, the bank says, “enables employees and non-employees of OCBC customers to request virtual cards on demand via their mobile app and use the virtual card for making mobile, in-app and online payments at all Visa accepting merchants”.

“This reduces the need for employees and non-employees such as contract staff and visiting delegates to pay out of their own pockets first as the card can be instantly issued for ad-hoc transactions,” OCBC adds.

The app also offers real-time monitoring of employees’ spending and automatic reconciliation, and allows companies to identify their core spending categories. This, the bank says, will enable “more price negotiation with suppliers”.

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