By using business pre paid cards, companies "self credit" with money they place on deposit. Doing so affords the ability to stay completely in control of corporate cards instead of being at the mercy of credit card issuers.

In uncertain times when business credit card limits are being lowered or accounts are being closed by credit card issuers, it is difficult to stay in control of the tools used to manage day to day operations. Sudden changes to credit card limits can bring business to a halt, especially for companies that are on the road or in the field.

When the credit line is maxed out, all cards stop working. No one can buy fuel or check into a hotel - and the only way the credit card company will allow spending is if all or part of the bill is paid. Even through electronic means, that can take a few days. For businesses with high spending volumes this can mean multiple funding transfers in a month. The biggest issue is not knowing the limits have been changed due to decisions made without input from your business.

Companies that begin using our business prepaid debit service quickly realize that they have a greater amount of control over their spending, what their limits are and effectively - greater control over their business. Because they interact with our system frequently, they are aware of cash position, what cardholders are spending and when to make transfers to add more funds to their program.

We have heard from plenty of businesses that were in good standing, had strong business credit and were relying heavily on cards until their limits changed and people were stranded.

Sign up for PEX Card and take control of your cards, your limits and your spending!

Labels: Accounting, Business Process, PEX Experiences

How frustrating is it for you as a business owner, when despite the best intentions of your employees, you have tremendous trouble keeping them accountable for expenses when they are out of the office?

We have all seen way too many times when receipts are lost and the purchase was made with cash, rather than a credit card or debit card. It’s difficult to trust that the reimbursement requested was legitimate. If you fronted the employee with a cash advance, it’s even more concerning. Plus, the company has no record of the transaction, causing further accounting nightmares at tax time.

Expense control can also be a problem when employees co-mingle their personal credit cards with business charges. Obtaining the paperwork from the employee in a format that is workable for them, the company, your bookkeeper and accountant is not so simple or efficient.

We have heard all kinds of stories from our clients about how difficult it was to keep employees accountable for business expenses because they did not have an expense management solution that was convenient for all parties.

They have told us that the PEX Card Service has improved their ability to control and manage employee expenses while eliminating their inefficient old reimbursement processes.  The full set of benefits associated with providing their employees with a prepaid debit card, combined with PEX Card’s real-time monitoring, tracking and reporting capabilities has enabled them to not only save time and money but also has improved the satisfaction of the employees who have to deal with expense reimbursement.

Listen to the testimonials from a sampling of our clients using our prepaid card service. Click here.

Keep your employees accountable with a service you can count on.

Labels: Accounting, expense management

In a poor economy bankruptcies become a regularly reported item in the media.  For a lot of those businesses, going into bankruptcy is a simple restructuring of debt or a way to protect themselves while they are in repair mode.  The fall out here, especially for small sized companies, is the impact on a company's credit worthiness, their ability to get credit, or even a credit card for that matter.

The PEX Card Service may be a solution for businesses that are having trouble getting credit but are still operating, selling their products/services and have people out in the field.  Because we offer business prepaid debit card services, all the spending is pre-funded with cash deposits.  Our online tools give businesses the transaction visibility and spend controls that banks and credit card companies do not provide with traditional credit or bank debit card accounts.

Labels: Credit, expense management, reloadable prepaid debit cards

A word that is used quite frequently in the financial community is “visibility."  It has often been attributed to the ability for publicly traded companies to provide guidance on their future business performance.  But more importantly, visibility is critical for small and mid-sized businesses to accurately and quickly assess their cash flow position and determine in a timely manner how, where and when their cash is being expended.

What we are hearing at PEX Card:
A number of our clients using the PEX Card Service have typically relied upon traditional  business company credit cards for employee business expenses.  However, too frequently the business owner is surprised at some of the expenses their employees had charged when the bill finally arrives weeks after the spending occurs.  By using the PEX Card Service, our clients now can better manage employee expenses and cash flow with the unique benefits of a prepaid debit card and the associated real-time monitoring, tracking and reporting capabilities.

We are thrilled with the feedback we have received.  As more small business owners recognize that there is a terrific alternative to credit cards, one that is a reloadable prepaid debit card that can save their company's time and money, they have come to appreciate the expense management solutions built in to PEX Card.

Listen to the testimonials from a sampling of our satisfied clients. Click here.

Improve your visibility. Take a look and see for yourself.

Labels: Credit, expense management, General Info, reloadable prepaid debit cards

Small businesses are being affected by the banking crisis of 2008/2009 in numerous ways.  A hot topic is bank lending is which includes access to spending on credit cards.  This goes well beyond borrowing - the emphasis is on being able to use cards effectively to keep business operations moving.

The Problem:
Banks have cut credit credit card limits for many small businesses - those that had $50,000 available may now have $15,000 and for companies with 10 employees sharing one credit line this is not enough to things easily.  Paying down credit cards mid-month takes days to post and often goes unnoticed until a card is declined at the point of sale.

The Solution:
A prepaid debit card program like PEX Card enables businesses to "self credit" so that one lump sum of funds can be budgeted to meet the needs of the company uninterrupted.  As cash flow needs fluctuate monthly, spending ability should be able to fluctuate too.

How:
Because the PEX Card system is partly a cash management system, companies can predetermine the level of funding they want to deposit without any intervention or say so from a bank.  The system has a primary account segregating funds from cards so only specific amounts of money are available to employees at any given time.  And, since each prepaid business debit card has its own separate balance each person is limited within their budget amount, so there is control over the funds on hand.  Take a look at our demo to see how it works.

Running a cash-based system in lieu of relying on a credit line enables businesses to stay flexible by funding their own spending needs when they need it without maxing out and scrambling for more money.

Labels: Cash Flow, Credit, reloadable prepaid debit cards

In this economic climate businesses trying to rely on credit cards to float monthly employee expense purchases has been tough.  Banks are finicky and have been pushing available business credit lines downward for about a year now.  For some small businesses, this poses more of a logistical problem than a financing problem because normal employee spending is maxing out limits before the end of the month.

So what are businesses doing?  For some, giving cash to employees is the best answer simply because of its flexibility.  Many companies have incorporated cash-based processes to reallocate and redistribute spending across multiple payment mediums.  In this world of web and technology, going back to cash payments (paper vs. plastic) may seem a bit retro, but for many small companies its a fact.

Managing a cash advance process or petty cash program is time consuming to run.  Companies want to provide the best environment for their employees to complete their jobs while also keeping track of money going out the door.  In companies with any amount of monthly transaction volume, this can be quite daunting to keep up with and keep accurate.

The solution we provide - the PEX Card Service - enables businesses with tools for issuing funds to employees on Visa prepaid debit cards which are controlled by administrators at companies through online tools.  Any business with employees who need to spend and have any amount of daily or weekly volume will benefit from using PEX Card.

For more information, view our video demo online or listen to customers talk about how they use PEX Card day to day.

Labels: Cash Flow, Credit, expense management

Our clients often describe the ways they integrate the PEX Card Service into the normal flow of day to day operations within their small businesses.  One case in particular is quite interesting.

The Problem:
How to manage, fulfill and organize multiple requests for funds on a daily basis so crews in the field can buy the supplies they need for their various jobs and then manage billing accordingly so clients are charged properly and profitability per job can be measured?

The Solution:
Combine using the PEX Card prepaid debit card service with internal process around request and fulfillment management so that the right information is captured and the process is efficient.

How:
The business owner establishes daily budgets per card for everyday purchases such as fuel for work trucks.  For supply purchases, crews pull the items they need at the supply store and estimate how much the transaction will cost.  They call in the amount and an admin at the office logs into the PEX Card admin site to fund the card, while at the same time creating a PO number that is linked to the job.  The number is noted on the sales slip which details the purchase.  Crew members turn in the receipts and sales slips every couple of days so they can be matched up.  The business uses the CSV report provided by PEX Card to track which items are submitted and which are pending.

Once in place, a prepaid card for business like PEX Card can combine funds disbursement and supply purchase tracking in a way much more simple to manage.

Labels: Accounting, Budgeting, Business Process, expense management

We did a series of telephone interviews with clients and recorded them (with permission of course).  Click here to listen!

Labels: Case Studies, PEX Card News