American Express Canada and Conferma announced a partnership this week to continue their push of virtual card technology in the corporate travel market.
A press release on Thursday (March 15) said American Express Canada is integrating its American Express vPayments technology into the Conferma platform to automate the generation of single-use virtual cards to pay travel suppliers. Conferma’s platform can integrate travel and payment data into existing systems used by travel providers, travel management companies and global distribution systems.
Virtual cards generated by American Express are specific to one travel reservation, the companies noted.
“At American Express, we want to be a strategic partner for Canadian companies, and one way we are doing that is with American Express vPayment, which is helping to streamline corporate travel efforts, while minimizing costs and opening up new opportunities for growth,” said American Express Canada Global Commercial Payments Vice President and General Manager Paul Roman in a statement.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with American Express to bring this innovative product to customers,” said Conferma CEO Simon Barker. “As a company, we continue to push the boundaries within the virtual payment sector to bring about greater efficiencies for businesses. We know that Canadian companies spend a significant amount of time and money managing expenses. However, thanks to American Express vPayment, businesses have the chance to start identifying efficiencies and cutting corporate travel costs without scaling back.”
Both American Express and Conferma have taken additional measures to encourage the use of virtual cards in the corporate travel space.
Last December, Conferma said it would be expanding its partnership with Travelport, which provides travel companies with point-of-sale technology, with a strategic focus on virtual card acceptance.
Separately, American Express inked a partnership with Regal Software Technologies to integrate Amex’s virtual cards into Regal’s accounts payable platform.