Credit has far more protection than any other type of money that most businesses will come into contact with. So, it stands to reason that using a business credit card is a simple way to safeguard your business’ money.
Main threats
There are two major threats to your business accounts, internal and external. The external one is fraudsters and those who illicitly obtain your business credit card, these people will have access to potentially thousands of dollars so making sure that your cards have a limit and the facility to be frozen is an easy way to secure your money.
Internally, the threat is more nuanced, no-one likes to think of employees as stealing from the business but it can happen. Here it is vital to stay on top of how teams and employees are using the credit they have access to and making sure that the purchases are for the business and in line with internal policy.
Debit is dangerous
Debit might be the worst way to spend your money. There’s almost no consumer protection when making a purchase with a debit card, short of issuing a chargeback - which takes 45 days to be effective, the money has gone.
And even that has limitations, you need to hope that the money hasn’t been moved on to another account in that time. If you or one of your employees has been a victim of fraud then that money has certainly been moved by the fraudsters, likely within minutes.
Simple safety steps
There are some basic steps you can take to prevent fraudsters from accessing your money, not writing down PINs, using only trusted vendors, and limiting the value of individual transactions are all common safeguards. However, having the ability to freeze cards immediately in-app with the press of a button is a great way to prevent any further theft of money from compromised cards.
Using your business credit card to make your business purchases is also a strong way to safeguard your business. By using the card on a regular basis you will create a pattern of transaction behaviour that’s easy to understand and allows providers to quickly detect any unusual spending on the account and alert you to the activity.
See all spend
Another major benefit of using a business credit card is that you can monitor all spending at a glance. Cape provides an overview dashboard for your business spending so you know who in your business is buying what. It allows you to give autonomy to your teams while being able to keep track of what expenditure is being made.
This means you never need to worry about frivolous purchases being made on company cards. Of course this needs to be backed up with internal company procedures on what is or is not acceptable for staff to spend money on. But that expenses policy can be refined through the information you gain using Cape’s insights into how your staff spend and what they need.
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