The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is using MasterCard's new inControl processing platform as the basis of a corporate payments system which enables business customers to set strict parameters on spending on corporate cards.
The bank is the first to implement the inControl platform, which MasterCard developed in partnership with Dublin-based payments technology vendor Orbiscom. MasterCard says the new system will enable RBS corporate customers to better manage, analyse and control procurement expenditures.
RBS will market the purchase control system as its Approval to Buy service. The system will be available UK customers during the next twelve months, with a wider roll out set to follow.
The bank will work with customers to set up software that enables them to set spending limits for single employees or groups of staff and authorise individual purchases.
The system also enables companies to generate unique purchasing card numbers for defined, one-off purchases within a particular time frame that can be made online, over the phone or by mail. For example, a virtual card can be made operational for staff members who need to make miscellaneous purchases or who are not at a level of authority to own a corporate card.
In addition, MasterCard says companies can more easily reconcile expenses to ensure all corporate spending can be analysed and accounted for, whilst alert features update on spending in real time.
Raghav Prasad, head, commercial cards, RBS, says: "We identified there was customer demand for transaction controls that can be tailored to individual staff and business requirements. We wanted to offer customers the flexibility to undertake transactions within parameters reflecting the specific needs of their business."