SAP Concur & Mastercard unite for streamlined expense process

SAP Concur has announced a new partnership with Mastercard, aiming to streamline the expense process. The venture integrates transactions made on Mastercard corporate cards, enabling them to be logged and automatically populated in Concur Expense. Users are instantly notified if supplementary information is required, benefitting from real-time spend data. This allows for adherence to compliance obligations and enhances the user experience through automated expense creation. Additionally, clients can continue banking with preferred partners and retaining existing card schemes.

This forward-thinking alliance responds to data highlighting the dreariness faced by employees in dealing with expense reports. A previous SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey unveiled that nearly one in every four business travellers would rather endure a trip to the dentist for a cavity filling than grapple with an expense report.

The expense reconciliation process is frequently time-consuming, particularly when organisations are reliant on manual procedures. Mastercard records show that almost all travel decision makers agree that increasing complications in the Travel and Expense (T&E) landscape call for fresh processes and ways of thinking. This is spurring modifications in businesses' dealings with T&E, with a nine out of ten travel decision-makers predicting a future where payment and expense management integrate.

Chris Juneau, the head of market strategy at SAP Concur said, "At SAP Concur, we help businesses reimagine their expense management process and use technology to make their employees' lives easier. Our work with Mastercard is a significant milestone in our journey to deliver the expense report that practically manages itself. As the industry leader in travel and expense management, we are reimagining the expense experience for our SMB and enterprise customers globally."

The new integration will be rolled out to select global customers starting in Q2 of 2024. An added bonus of the partnership involves the mutual cooperation of Mastercard and SAP Concur in providing travel and finance managers with the functionality to set spending restrictions and controls, encouraging greater adherence to company expense policies.

Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Segments at Mastercard, Rebecca Meeker, commented on the partnership, "Combining Mastercard's digital payments expertise with SAP Concur's integrated expense management solution will create a simpler and more efficient experience for businesses and employees around the world. This is another step in our partnership with SAP Concur to collaborate on fast, secure, and transparent payments, expenses, and invoicing solutions."