7 benefits of using virtual cards for HR teams

Whether you are a company made up of five, or fifty or five hundred people, your employees are the most important asset. Managing your most valuable asset is not an easy task, and that’s where the Human Resources (HR) team comes in.

Your HR team tackles not just your employees’ payroll but also manages spending related to hiring, employee engagement, administrative inefficiencies, etc.

Being part of the administrative team, your HR team can leverage the benefits of virtual cards. A virtual credit card can assist in reducing key HR costs across the organization. To know more about the biggest spend areas dealt by the HR team and how virtual cards can help speed up payments, read on.

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What are virtual cards?

Virtual cards are online debit or credit cards created by randomly generating a 16-digit number, along with an expiration date and CVV number. Virtual cards are a booming component of HR employee management software and are issued by the world’s leading card networks such as Mastercard, VISA, etc. These cards function exactly like a credit card, without the need for a physical card. However, unlike a physical credit card, a virtual credit card is useful beyond the ordinary.

Unlike a business credit card that cannot be assigned to one person and therefore has to be used by the entire HR team along with C-suite executives, virtual cards give you the freedom to create customized cards for every HR team member so that there is no need to queue up for a business credit card ever again. Check out the benefits of using virtual cards for business travel expense management as well.

Why do you need virtual cards?

Virtual cards are also independent of any bank-based reliance, giving you the full customizable control you need. From multi-currency payment options to set spending limits, customizable expiration dates, and specified expense category spending, virtual cards can provide an unparalleled sense of flexibility and authority to your HR team.

What are the most common HR costs for SMEs?

HR costs are one of the biggest driving factors in a company’s expense report. However, unlike operational costs, not all HR costs are visible directly to an SME business owner. Here are some of the most common HR costs:

1. Recruitment advertising

It is one of the most substantial HR costs in an organization. Recruitment advertising has a high markup as various digital and non-digital channels are used. These channels charge companies to post recruitment ads. Virtual cards for managing these marketing expenses makes the entire process much simpler and easier.

2. Agency fees

HR teams handle any external agency or consultancy firm’s fees in exchange for their services being employed by various departments in an SME, improving recruitment processes and fostering organizational growth.

3. Recruitment related travel

While some companies require applicants to visit their offices for hiring assessments, others might have to travel to other cities to hold recruitment drives.

4. Training

Expenses related to training being imparted to employees to promote skill-building and professional development are also a component of HR costs.

5. Employee referral program

These programs are a great incentive to bring in amazing talent through your existing employees in exchange for referral rewards or bonuses. The employee referral program is carefully organized, managed, and executed by the HR team to enhance recruitment efforts.

6. Applicant tracking system

Companies and their HR teams that receive a huge volume of hiring applications may benefit from applicant tracking systems that assist the HR department to have clear visibility into all the applications, scheduled interviews, application status, and more.

7. Employee engagement incentives

HR teams shoulder the responsibility to organize company-wide town halls, meetings, trips, and tokens of appreciation to retain employee engagement and boost morale.

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Benefits of managing HR spend using virtual cards

For these ranging responsibilities and expenses, one business credit card is simply not enough. That’s why switching to virtual cards is the best course of action for HR teams belonging to SMEs.

Faster payments

The logic is simple: When your team doesn’t have to share a single business credit card to manage all their spending, they can pay their expenses swiftly, eliminating any financial bottleneck situation that may arise.

Virtual cards improve employee satisfaction by removing the possibility of any delay by lessening over reliance on a single card and empowering your employees to pay off expenses as they come.

Real time visibility

With dedicated virtual cards for all your HR employees who need them, you gain a crystal clear visibility into their spending habits and can track who spent how much and on what. The value of this feature increases significantly when you compare it with business credit cards that have no features to distinguish between different spends.

Recurring payments

Your HR team can use virtual cards for subscription-based SaaS applications as virtual cards offer automated recurring payments options so your team never defaults on timely payments and ends up paying the late fees! You can set up a virtual card for every subscription your HR team is currently using. Types of HR software include HR automation software, HR management software, and many more.

Avoid fraudulent activity

Virtual cards take out the guesswork of who paid what amount and where. Unlike business credit cards that do not offer any employee accountability features and take weeks to even detect fraud, virtual cards are also safe in identifying any cause of fraudulent activities.

Since these cards are always created for a designated employee and also on a one-time or recurring expense basis, in case of fraud, you do not have to freeze the entire business credit operations. Simply freeze the card with the fraudulent expense while the rest of your business operations run smoothly.

Cost efficient

Virtual cards replace the need to have elaborate expensive systems set in places such as paying through checks and cross-border payment fees. They are even more beneficial for companies with a global presence. FX fluctuations and transaction fees can be avoided or reduced by using virtual cards that retain money in their local currency.

More secure

One of the greatest features that virtual cards offer is the immense security provided by them. You can make safe, secure online payments using virtual cards.

Since virtual cards have no physical existence, they are impossible to clone or steal. Moreover, you can create as many single-use cards as you need, with immediate expiration after use.

Since these virtual cards are backed up by reliable payments technology companies like VISA, Mastercard, etc., these cards pass through the same security checks as the rest of the card network.

Better cash flow

Virtual cards help in retaining a better cash flow throughout the company, especially for your HR team. With a virtual credit card that can be created for one-time or recurring spending, as many HR team members as needed can eliminate financial bottlenecks.

These bottlenecks usually clog up your company’s expense management drastically. It thus allows your team to have better control over funds, allocating and processing them as soon as an expense arrives.

Get instant virtual cards from Volopay

Volopay offers state-of-the-art virtual cards that can be used for all online payments and POS transactions. Empower your HR team with unlimited virtual cards, customizable card limits, and real-time instantaneous creation. Volopay’s virtual card offers you app-wide visibility and 100% control over card spending.

Reduce the chances of declined transactions by getting instant notifications via email and in-app whenever the card value drops below a certain amount. Your HR team doesn’t have to queue up in line to request more funds.

With Volopay, employees can easily request additional funds through our desktop or mobile app. Set a one-time or recurring payment limit on the card with our nifty HR automation tools for as long as you like. What’s more, get stunning cashback every time your HR team makes an FX transaction!