Navigate the future of business payments: Compare corporate cards vs. UPI-QR solutions. Make smarter choices for your company’s expense management needs.

In today’s digital age, businesses are constantly seeking innovative solutions to streamline their operations and enhance efficiency. Two prominent payment methods that have gained significant traction are corporate cards and UPI-based QR payments. While both offer advantages, they cater to different needs and present distinct characteristics. Let’s delve into a comparative analysis of these two methods to understand their benefits, drawbacks, and ideal use cases within corporate settings. 

Corporate Cards

Corporate cards are issued by financial institutions to businesses to streamline official expense management and tracking. Designed with the needs of corporate users in mind, these cards function similarly to personal credit cards but include additional features and controls tailored for business use. Employees use these cards for a wide range of expenditures, from small day-to-day transactions to larger purchases and travel expenses. While corporate cards often provide rewards programs, travel benefits, and enhanced security measures, their issuance reflects a company’s attempt to centralize spend tracking and simplify reconciliation. However, this approach can sometimes evolve into a push process, with employees carrying the burden of managing receipts and expense reports, creating inefficiencies in achieving the intended goal of seamless expense management.

Benefits of Corporate Cards:

• Centralized Management:
  Corporate cards provide a centralized platform for tracking and managing business expenses, ensuring greater visibility and control over spending patterns.
• Rewards and Benefits:
  Many corporate cards offer rewards programs, travel perks, and other incentives, adding tangible value to the company while encouraging employee compliance with expense policies.
• Enhanced Security:
  Equipped with advanced security features such as fraud protection, real-time transaction monitoring, and cardholder authentication, corporate cards significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized spending.
• Pre-Set Spending Limits:
  Businesses can define pre-set working capital spending limits on corporate cards, ensuring budget adherence and preventing overspending. This feature empowers companies to allocate resources effectively while maintaining financial discipline.

Drawbacks of Corporate Cards:

• Potential for Misuse:
  Without proper controls, corporate cards can be susceptible to misuse, resulting in increased expenses and compliance risks for businesses.
• Administrative Overhead:
  Managing corporate cards involves various time-consuming tasks such as issuing cards, setting spending limits, and reconciling expenses, which can strain administrative resources.
• Cost:
  Corporate cards often come with associated fees, including annual charges, transaction fees, and potential interest, which can increase the overall cost of implementing them.
• Acceptability:
  Dependency on point-of-sale (POS) machines poses challenges for corporate employees, as transactions may be difficult or impossible in places where these systems are unavailable.
• Adoption Challenges:
  Achieving widespread adoption of corporate cards within a company can be difficult at scale. Factors such as inconsistent user training, resistance to change, and underutilization of features often hinder full adoption, limiting the effectiveness of the solution.

Dice powered UPI-Payments

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Business Expense Management:

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a real-time payment system in India that enables instant fund transfers between bank accounts. UPI-based QR payments involve scanning a QR code with a compatible app and authorizing the transaction. This method is gaining popularity due to its simplicity, speed, and security.

What differentiates this from traditional corporate cards is that, in compliance with the latest RBI and NPCI policies, businesses plan to incorporate the operability of digital payments via UPI for imprest and expense settlements, and only a few fintechs can provide such deployability.

How Dice Adds Value:

Dice enhances business expense management by offering UPI-powered virtual cards and QR-based payment solutions. Our platform seamlessly integrates digital payments for imprest and expense settlements, enabling real-time tracking, centralized control, and compliance with regulatory standards. Dice ensures businesses not only adapt to the evolving digital payment landscape but also achieve efficiency and transparency in their financial operations.

Benefits of UPI-Based QR Payments:

• Instant Transactions: UPI payments are processed instantly, providing a seamless and efficient payment experience.
• Wide Acceptance: UPI is widely accepted across India, making it a convenient payment option for various business users and merchants.
• Security: UPI employs robust security measures, including two-factor authentication and encryption, to protect user data, prevent fraud, and ensure compliance with policies for employee transactions.
• Lower Transaction Costs: UPI transactions typically involve lower processing fees compared to card payments, making it a cost-effective option for businesses.
• Comprehensive Expense Visibility: Unlike traditional corporate cards, UPI-powered payment solutions offer businesses a more detailed view of expenses across departments. Transactions, whether related to petty cash or department-specific budgets, are tracked in real-time, providing greater transparency and control.
• Faster Reconciliation and Compliance: With Dice’s spend management modules, businesses can achieve swift reconciliations while ensuring compliance with organizational spending policies. By eliminating the inefficiencies of manual tracking and integrating UPI with Dice’s ecosystem, organizations can enhance operational efficiency and accountability at every level.

Drawbacks of UPI-Based QR Payments:

• Limited Functionality: While UPI is suitable for many transactions, it may not be ideal for large-value payments or complex transactions like cross-border or inter-currency payments.
• Dependency on Internet Connectivity: UPI payments require a stable internet connection, which can be a limitation in areas with poor network coverage.

Choosing the Right Method

The ideal payment method for a business depends on various factors, including the nature of expenses, the size of transactions, the desired level of control, and the specific needs of the organization. Corporate cards are well-suited for larger purchases, travel expenses, and businesses that require centralized management and rewards programs. UPI-based QR payments are ideal for smaller transactions, everyday purchases, and businesses seeking a simple and cost-effective payment solution.

In some cases, a combination of corporate cards and UPI-based QR payments can provide the best of both worlds, allowing businesses to optimize their spending and streamline their financial operations. By carefully evaluating their specific requirements, businesses can make informed decisions regarding the most appropriate payment methods for their operations.

Dice empowers businesses with a unified spend management platform that integrates the benefits of both corporate cards and UPI-based QR payments. By combining advanced tools for real-time tracking, centralized control, and policy compliance, Dice ensures that businesses can seamlessly manage all types of transactions while optimizing their financial workflows. With Dice, businesses gain a reliable partner in enhancing efficiency, transparency, and cost-effectiveness in expense management.