Barclaycard adds virtual Visa card to remote work outreach

Millions of workers are still displaced from offices, pushing financial services designed for the trend, such as Barclaycard Payments' Precisionpay Go app for businesses to issue virtual cards for corporate expenses.

The platform allows companies to issue virtual corporate cards within two seconds of an employee's request. Employers can customize cards and avoid the mass issuance of similar corporate cards to an entire workforce.

Precisionpay Go has been launched exclusively using the Visa network and supports digital payments made in British pounds, U.S. dollars and euros.

“The pandemic has reinvented the way businesses operate, with remote working now the norm for millions of staff across the U.K.,” Marc Pettican, president of Barclaycard Payments, said in the release. “Yet, many firms still use outdated systems that rely on paper-based reimbursement which is hugely time-consuming and often frustrating to use."

The launch is the first phase of Precisionpay Go’s overall market entry. In the second phase of the launch in early 2021, Precisionpay Go will enable virtual cards to be issued directly into a digital wallet for contactless in-store payments.

Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

Barclaycard reports it can take up to eight days to deliver a physical card to an employee in an office and even longer for remote workers, necessitating a virtual option.

The customization allows employers to issue a different virtual card for each business payment made. It also allows for an employer to create a card for a group of payments such as for a specific business trip. Companies can add custom data fields to be populated by the employee each time a new virtual card is requested. The employee can further upload purchase receipts via the mobile app, which then can be viewed alongside transactional information in the accompanying reporting platform called SNAP.

Barclaycard has been aggressively upgrading its consumer and corporate card portfolios during the pandemic to address the changing needs of its clients as well as upcoming regulatory demands. It was a leader in driving higher contactless spend limits which delivered $330 million in increased spending on its cards in just the first month of the higher limits.

In June, Barclaycard partnered with Kount to deploy real-time fraud screening using adaptive artificial intelligence and machine learning to help its business clients prepare for Strong Customer Authentication requirements, which are part of Europe’s PSD2 directive. There are two key dates for SCA-regulated transactions — the first in December 2020 for European-issued cards and the second in September 2021 for U.K.-issued cards.

“Now, more than ever, businesses need tools that provide an efficient, flexible and convenient way to manage their finances,” Cathy Dargue, client director, U.K. and Ireland at Visa, said in the release.