Chase’s Ink Brand Adds ‘Jot’ To Track Small-Business Expenses As They Occur

To lure new small-business credit card customers, JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 1 introduced Jot, a mobile feature enabling customers with its Ink-branded small-business credit card to track expenses as they occur for easier recordkeeping.

Jot enables cardholders to categorize, or “tag,” a purchase immediately after it is authorized at the point of sale, with the goal of simplifying subsequent bookkeeping and expense management, Chase says.

Jot’s ability in track small-business expenditures through mobile devices is unusual in the market, a spokesperson for the issuer tells PaymentsSource. Wells Fargo & Co. earlier this year introduced a similar feature for its commercial card customers to enable managers to track their own and their employees’ business expenses on the fly (see story).

“Small-business owners told us that they’re often making purchases on behalf of multiple clients, and sorting out the receipts for each client at the end of the month can be a time-consuming hassle,” the Chase spokesperson says. “This feature is something that will slash paperwork and make it easier for owners to reconcile expenses.”

The Jot application, which cardholders may access for free online or download to Apple Inc. iPhones and Google Inc.’s Android devices, sends text messages to cardholders after each authorized purchase. The text-message notifications appear “nearly simultaneously” with the purchase, asking cardholders whether they want to tag their transaction, the Chase spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.

When cardholders opt to immediately tag a transaction, a screen displays the transaction’s details. After clicking a button that says “type,” cardholders may add a customized tag to categorize the transaction. Jot allows cardholders to add up to two different tags for each purchase.

The tags are visible when cardholders view all transactions on their account through their mobile devices or online. Cardholders also may use the tags to sort transactions after downloading the information into accounting software Ink supports, including Intuit’s QuickBooks and Microsoft Corp.’s Excel.

Cardholders also may use Jot to adjust employees’ card-spending limits via a mobile device, Chase says.

Ink, which was introduced in the fall of 2009 (see story), is available as a Visa or a MasterCard. The product continues to offer cardholders the option of receiving text or e-mail alerts for a variety of account actions, including confirming routine transactions and payments and checking balances.

Mobile applications have proved to be popular with small-business customers, Chase noted in a press release. In a telephone survey of 304 small-business owners conducted by TechnoMetrica for April 21 to 27 on behalf of the issuer, respondents who used mobile applications said mobile features in general are saving each of them an average of 5.6 hours per week in administrative tasks.

Chase is backing Jot’s introduction with digital, print and television advertising beginning this month, according to the release.

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