Travel expense management solutions firm American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) announced that its hotel booking and payment solution Virtual Payment Expert (VPE) is now available in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand.
The digital payment solution is powered by Conferma, the world’s leading virtual payments technology provider.
This means that VPE is now available in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, as well as in Australia.
Amex GBT’s product manager for VPE, global product, and UX Aaron Conlin said of this new development: “By combining Amex GBT’s client expertise and industry insight with Conferma’s advanced digital payment technology and global network of over 90 banking partners, we are able to deliver a solution that reflects the preferences of today’s business travellers worldwide, while addressing the need for secure, seamless payment options. The continued expansion of VPE into Asia is reflective of our commitment to innovative financial solutions for corporate travel globally.”
Conferma’s head of commercial for APAC Adam Williams added: “The launch of VPE in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand is an exciting step forward for businesses looking to simplify their travel payment management and gain more security and control over expenses. With VPE, businesses gain a powerful tool to streamline processes and access reliable, real-time data that improves day-to-day operations and supports smarter decision making.”
What is VPE?
VPE is a hotel booking and payment solution that is managed by Amex GBT, that supports spend control, helps prevent fraud and reconciliation challenges.
A virtual card is used as a secure payment method for offline and online reservations globally and automatically becomes the form of payment in the hotel booking.
Hotel payments are secure and automatically reconciled using Conferma tools.
VPE works as a digital payment solution for companies that have travellers without access to an individual corporate credit card who may also be booking outside of a company’s preferred vendors.
Businesses benefit from VPE by streamlining payment processes into a single, all-in-one platform that makes it more efficient for finance teams to manage.
Travel managers have access to data-driven insights with comprehensive spend analytics and customisable reporting and travellers benefit from a frictionless payment experience, no longer needing to use their own cards or worry about what they can or cannot spend on.
What benefits can users expect from VPE?
- Seamless Traveller Experience With integrated technology, travellers or traveller arrangers can book in their preferred offline and online channels with access to their preferred properties. Travellers have around-the-clock support from GBT travel counsellors for any needs related to their hotel booking and virtual card including extending their stay. Travellers also have access to virtual card numbers before and during their trip and can add to their digital wallet by using the Conferma app.
- Financial Visibility VPE provides real-time insights into travel expenses, enabling businesses to easily monitor, manage, and monitor spending via a single, all-in-one platform that seamlessly integrates with existing financial and travel management systems.
- Simplified Spend Management With VPE, businesses can set predefined spending limits for each individual user, ensuring every transaction automatically complies with budget and spend policy without the need for manual authorisation.
- Enhanced Security VPE single-use virtual cards can be generated instantly for restricted purposes, limiting usage to specific vendors, locations and timeframes – drastically reducing the risk of loss, theft, fraud and unauthorised usage.
- Automated Reconciliation By automating the reconciliation process, VPE simplifies the matching of payments with expenses, minimising the time and effort spent on manual administration.
- Reliable Reporting VPE’s real-time insights and automated reconciliation eliminate errors in financial reporting and provide a comprehensive audit trail and insights to improve analysis and decision making.
