American Express Global Corporate Payments and HRS have teamed up to offer a cashless payment solution for hotel bookings.
The new system means buyers can settle their hotel costs centrally rather than the traveller paying directly on check-out.
A joint IT interface between AMEX and HRS means corporate customers can automatically generate a virtual credit card from their vPayment account to pay for the accommodation - vPayment is a virtual solution that allows the user to generate single-use account numbers for payment.
HRS said this method ensures improved transparency and security as well as ensuring “only the amount of money that was approved for the booking is actually spent”.
“Using vPayment is recommended for all centrally arranged expenses, but in particular, for handling hotel bookings for travellers who don’t have a company credit card,” said Karen Penney, VP and GM of American Express Global Corporate Payments and Small Business Services UK.
“The solution offers special added value for companies that have numerous travellers abroad. vPayment accounts can be set up in British pounds, Euros as well as US dollars . Companies can therefore make flexible credit card payments without incurring any fees for currency translation or foreign assignments,” she added.
HRS CEO Tobias Ragge, said: “For business travellers, both booking and accounting becomes far easier. What’s more, the travel manager receives detailed reports of all hotel bookings and invoiced billing amounts through the payment solution. This is done digitally, which makes the processes far more efficient and cost-transparent.”
The new system will be available from June in 20 European markets and can be used in all hotels worldwide that accept American Express.
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