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

When business owners are considering whether to give out business credit cards or corporate cards to employees a number of questions come to mind:

• In these times of tight credit, are the benefits of handing out corporate cards worth the risk of impacting my credit?  Corporate cards will be linked to my personal credit - if i need to refinance my house, my equipment or vehicles, a revolving credit card line may impede my ability to do so.
• If I give out a credit card, can't the employee just run up the bill?  Most small business credit cards or corporate cards are open spend cards.  This means employees can spend the entire credit limit (even for legitimate transactions) and I won't even know about it until the statement shows up.
• How do I deal with misuse from a disciplinary standpoint?  If employees do make unauthorized purchases - at what point do you risk firing people who are otherwise good employees.
• By giving out a corporate card to an employee, will it make them feel like they have an expense account?
• Will the credit line be enough to support my company's needs?  Smaller credit lines are a simple fact of doing business in a post bank crisis economy.  Companies no longer have access to large lines unless their companies are large or business owners are willing to co-sign the card account.

For every day employee spending, a business credit card may not be the answer for most small businesses.  Now that a business Visa prepaid debit card like the PEX Card Service exists, companies facing the list of questions above can provide cards to employees with less worry.  PEX Card offers prepaid debit cards for business.  We link online tools to cards to give employers full control and visibility of employee spending.

With the advanced controls of the PEX Card Service, businesses can feel more secure about handing out funds to employees, but track them more closely because they are electronic and minimize credit risk.

Labels: Budgeting, Cash Flow, Credit, expense management

For new businesses starting up, being able to pay for new equipment and services easily helps get things up and running more smoothly.  But for new businesses getting a credit card is next to impossible unless the business owner personally guarantees the line.  Bank debit cards are an option but companies don't generally like them as there is a direct link to cash in the bank, card balances are unsegregated and tap into a single pooled account balance, there is ATM and check access and you have to wait for statements to view a breakdown of spend per cardholder.

New businesses come to PEX Card all the time for our business prepaid debit card service because we provide an organized way of managing cash employees can use in a controlled environment.  What's more, funds allocated to this account are kept separate from main operating funds and are laid out to provide visibility into what people are doing, while controlling misuse.

PEX Card helps early stage companies avoid problems with misuse, other mistakes and helps minimize wasted time.  Have a look at our demo for a close look.  Thanks for reading!

Labels: Business Process, Credit, expense management, Petty Cash