Travelling employees pay for their business trips in various ways. They use a debit card, credit card, fuel card or transport card. At the end of the month, this results in an envelope full of receipts. As a finance team, you would prefer a single card, as it would be easier to process the expenses.
But how do you then respond to changing mobility needs? A universal mobility card is a payment card to pay all types of travel expenses with.
With a mobility card, you want to give your employees access to all types of transport. But most of the cards offered by larger travel organizations focus on their own regional or national services. In practice, employees need to book various types of transportation to get to their destination. How can you ensure that they can pay for these with one single card?
A universal mobility card helps your finance team to get control over all travel spending. At the same time, it’s easy and convenient for employees.
What is a mobility card?
There are two different definitions for a mobility card. Some people talk about a mobility card in terms of travel insurance. Others refer to it as a customer card for travel services.
With a mobility card for travel insurance, you are ensured of direct professional roadside assistance. They often help you 24 hours a day. Wherever you are. Most cards also include free replacement transport in the event of a breakdown, repatriation and hotel accommodation.
The other type of mobility card is a payment card for various types of (public) transportation. Mostly they are linked to a large travel organization. The card is linked to your customer account and can be used for bookings or payments.
Types of mobility cards
In most organizations, employees pay with several cards for different types of travel expenses. Cards can be offered by single transportation brands, associated brands or travel booking organizations. In all cases, the usability of the cards is limited to the associated travel types.
❯ Branded transportation cards
Many transportation brands offer their own programs for business customers. Also known as frequent traveller cards, these offer benefits such as
❯ Easy booking
❯ Preferred seating
❯ Bonuses for frequent travel
❯ Pay per invoice
Examples are KLM´s bluebiz or Lufthansa´s PartnerPlusBenefit program, the Sixt rental car business account and bahn.business from Deutsche Bahn.
❯ Associated brands
Most brands know that single travel options do not suffice for business users. That´s why NS partners with others like Greenwheels, taxi and OV-bike or Lufthansa cooperates with 10 Partner-Airlines.
Daimler and BMW combined their car-sharing services under the Share Now brand. Well-known are also the associations of regional and local transport organizations.
With the Dutch OV-chipkaart you can check-in and out easily on all types of public transport: train, bus, metro, tram and ferry. Or hire an OV-bike at almost 300 rental locations. The card is always ready for use, and you are ensured that the balance on the card is automatically topped up. This means that you no longer need to add funds to the card yourself.
In Germany the Hamburger Verkehrsbund (HVV) was the first Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund founded in 1965. It combines the services of the Hamburger Hochbahn, S-Bahn, DB Regio, Norbahn and many more local transport organizations. Business customers can book tickets online with a 7% discount.
Public transport organizations are continually experimenting with innovative forms of mobility. For example in Munich the MVG is testing an On-Demand Poolingfahrdienst, IsarTiger.
❯ Travel booking platforms
Booking organizations such as BCD and Travelperk are specifically targeting the business community. They allow travel booking at hundreds of airlines and many thousands of hotels across the world. Key benefits include the ability to manage compliance with employee bookings.
As a company, you can define what types of booking are in the policy. And which ones are not. Large corporates such as Springer, Ingersoll Rand or Airbus rely on such services.
❯ Fuel card
With fuel cards , you can fill up at most fuel stations in the Netherlands and Germany. Some fuel cards are also an accepted payment method for expenses other than fuel. These can be maintenance, repairs, parking or other more general expenses.
Traditionally fuel cards were offered by chains of gas stations to promote loyalty to their brand.
❯ Cards to charge your car
If employees use an electric or hybrid car, the car can be charged using a specific card. Employees can charge anywhere for a fixed rate.
We are here to help you with the implementation of a universal mobility card.
A universal mobility card for your travel expenses
Employees travelling in business are the public face of an organization. They visit clients, fairs and other events on a regular basis. This means that all kinds of transportation costs need to be paid for.
With a universal mobility card, employees decide how they travel: by plane, train, metro, tram, taxi or public transport. All the expenses are paid with the same card. On the go, the mobility card can also be used for business lunches, overnight stays and other necessary travel expenses.
The cards also allow the employee to refill fuel, park, pay for Uber, Swapbike, rent or share a car and, if necessary, go through the car wash. Universal mobility cards, like SimpledCard cards, are internationally accepted and have worldwide coverage.
How you control travel spend on the go
The mobility cards can be controlled in one central system. There is no predefined daily or monthly limit. The card can be topped up with a budget to the specific need of the employee or team. This makes these cards convenient for all kinds of services in the field of business travel.
As a finance manager, you easily manage the spending limit of each card in real-time and online. This prevents advances or incorrectly estimated amounts. Pre-budgeting for an entire trip allows you to make informed decisions regarding future business travel plans.
The payment cards can be ordered, activated and even deactivated online. In the Card Management System, you can easily monitor the use of payment cards. You can also adjust the spending limit of each team, employee or project.
Easy accounting with SimpledCard
The mobility card completely unburdens you in the area of transport costs. Not just because this one single card gives you access to all forms of mobility. But also because the administrative hassle disappears. This is thanks to the smart integration with an expense management system.
Compared to other mobility cards, SimpledCard makes it much easier to justify business travel expenses. Via the mobile app, employees can easily scan their receipts, which are directly linked to the transactions. These are automatically processed with the correct reference in your accounting software.
This allows you to process expenses in accordance with local tax rules and employee allowance regulations. Cash advances and cumbersome expense reporting become a thing of the past.
With an easily managed mobility card, businesses can bypass many of the inefficiencies of traditional business travel. Streamlining administrative processes reduces your overall travel costs. And eliminating the need for cash advances increases security and convenience for your travellers.
A universal mobility solution from SimpledCard helps you to simplify your spend management and streamline travel processes. This can save your business time and money.
Would you like to know how you can use SimpledCard as a mobility card and overall business expense card, within your organization? Fill out the form, and receive a detailed brochure with all product details
By SimpledCard
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