Concur To Let Employers Track Employee Movements

Travel and expense management firm Concur has added new features to its solution empowering employers to gain a new level of transparency over where their employees are while on business trips.

Reports on Friday (Oct. 7) said Concur plans to add location data feeds into its solution in the first quarter of next year, allowing employers to track employee movements based on card transactions and expense receipts. The new features will integrate into its risk management tool, Concur Messaging.

Already, reports said, Concur provides traveler location based on several data sources, like passenger name records and supplier reservation documents. This information is integrated into its TripIt itinerary travel booking tool and other areas of the Concur platform.

But according to Concur SVP for Travel Product Strategy Doug Anderson, new data feeds will offer companies faster and more accurate employee locating services.

“We do card feeds now, but we didn’t previously leverage the location data,” he told BTN in an interview. He added that the data feed will be more robust than traditional GPS tracking solutions and be less “creepy” than a GPS tool. “Now, you can easily show location awareness without feeling like you are being watched,” the executive added.

Concur said that its tracking tool will comply with privacy legislation across markets. The Concur Messaging upgrade will roll out globally next year and allow corporate clients to opt in to the tool.

The enhancements follow only days after Concur released a new study that explored how CFOs approach the travel and expense management technology space. The company said T&E can be a top hurdle for CFOs and other corporate money managers, with the added challenge that these executives report having less time to spend focusing on travel and expense management technology upgrades.