Use Case Expense Management (Draft)

This page describes the view of the ca-card on the expense management use case. It is the most relevant use case that has been requested to be supported in the Card API standard by the community. Other use case descriptions could follow in the future, depending on the community need.

The page is currently in DRAFT status.

Overview of expense management use case

Expenses incurred by employees in the course of their professional activities should be processed as quickly as possible, as automatically as possible, and with complete documentation. Corporate cards (credit, debit, and prepaid) are now an important instrument for achieving this.

All types of corporate cards are in use today, as they each offer advantages and disadvantages for companies; in other words, all types have their justification.

Corporate card type	Advantages	Disadvantages
Credit card	Different cards with different limits possible; large structures for varying needs	A card issuer must be found that provides the required credit
Prepaid card	No credit required	The prepaid balance is typically only available to one person; with many users, a large total amount is tied up across multiple accounts
Debit card	No credit required; typically multiple cards per account possible	Dedicated account required; typically limited structuring options

Challenges in expense management

• Transaction details: To categorize and automate expenses efficiently, information such as MCC (Merchant Category Code), card assignment (employee/cost center), and merchant address are essential.
• Real time: To collect receipts as efficiently as possible, it is important to prompt employees as close as possible to the time of purchase to document the receipt.
• Complete account visibility: From an accounting perspective, it is essential to always have a consistent view of accounts. This requires transparency on fees, incoming payments, and reconciliation of balances.

Special considerations for expense management with debit cards

In Switzerland, most banks have outsourced the issuing or processing of debit cards. For expense management using debit cards, either the Card API and/or the Account API can be used. Depending on the approach, there are limitations and constraints, as outlined below. Third parties who want to implement expense management need to consider these limitations.

Card API only

• The issuer or processor usually has no visibility of the underlying account (including fees, incoming payments, or currency conversions). Without full and accurate transaction costs, expense management is effectively not possible.
• The API includes many compromises to account for the lack of account visibility (i.e. non-card transactions on the bank account).
• Real-time capabilities (push) are currently under development (not yet available).

Account API only

• Transactions come without card-specific details, such as card assignment (employee/cost center) or MCC (Merchant Category Code). Without these details, expense management is effectively not possible.
• Real-time capabilities (push) are currently under development (not yet available).

Card & Account API

• Two different APIs must be integrated.
• Transactions must be matched, currently likely requiring complex logic (e.g. booking date may differ, amount may differ, description text may differ). The matching logic may even vary by bank.
• Real-time capabilities (push) are currently under development (not yet available).