Regions Bank Rolls Out Virtual Business Travel Card Solution

Regions Bank has debuted a virtual card designed to streamline business travel payments.

The bank’s Visa Commercial Pay solution, announced in a news release Monday (Dec. 5), is designed for Regions’ treasury management clients.

Regions Bank says the solution lets businesses that use a travel management vendor manage reservations such as air travel, hotels, and car rentals from a central location.

“It creates a seamless integration option for the reservation process and can deliver enhanced data on employee travel, full spend visibility for all company travel, and automated expense reconciliation through unique virtual card numbers,” the company said.

In addition, the solution lets business travelers see all their reservations in one place, as well as with real-time updates on trip expenses, all within the Visa Commercial Pay app.

“The more we can make payments, cash flow, and operations easier for our Treasury Management clients, the more time they can spend focusing on the core of their business and helping their companies succeed,” David LaPaglia, the bank’s commercial card product and operations manager, said in the release.

“Business travel is one area that can be particularly time-consuming in terms of managing expenses and tracking charges.”

The launch comes as the travel industry is expected to see gains in an era of increased remote work and a resumption of events and business travel required to support face time with clients and customers, as Al Enes, vice president of gig economy and travel at payments platform Nuvei, told PYMNTS Monday.

“Events have been packed,” he said, projecting the new business travel trend will continue next year as more countries sunset COVID-19 restrictions, especially China.

Asked how payment methods play into all of this, Enes said many travel suppliers are looking to their digital flow, particularly in direct bookings, which he said provide “massive value.”

Any payment method that has authorization does well in the travel space, he added.

“If you think about the travel industry, you need that authorization to ensure that that transaction went through. If there’s a delay in authorization you can still make it work, but your business logic has to match up with that as well,” Enes told PYMNTS.

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