You’ve taken the time to create policies and procedures that will help your credit card system run as smoothly as possible. Now don’t miss an important next step: Ensuring that your cardholders know those standards.
Your policies and procedures (also known as “P&P”) won’t mean a thing if your cardholders don’t know them or don’t understand them. Communicating this information to them is essential for a successful card program. Whether your business manages a Purchasing Card or a Travel Card, here are some ways to effectively communicate.
Go digital with policies and procedures
In the not-so-distant past, a hard copy, printed manual would have been how information regarding your card program would be disbursed to its users. Now that digital means of communicating are not only possible but commonplace, that’s no longer the case. Ditch the ink and paper and go digital instead. You’ll still create a manual — only this time, “print” it as PDF document that can be shared online. A simple page on a company website or a page on your secure company intranet can be the gateway to share the information with your cardholders. If you want added security, you can require a username and password be entered to access the information.
Training — the overall communication solution
Educating your cardholders is the single most effective way of communicating your P&P. Via training, you can feel secure in knowing that your employees are aware of your standards, and moreover, that they understand them and how they work within the corporate credit card system.
In-person training is effective, but not always practical. Fortunately, Card Integrity offers an extremely customizable and convenient online system of training, so that you can communicate your exact system of policies and procedures to your cardholders, without the burden of tying up your management with added responsibilities and duties. Training can also include important messages about general credit card security or cybersecurity when making payments.
Revisit and revise your communications regularly
Your card program is never “set it and forget it.” Along the way, mistakes will be made and lessons will be learned — which will require that policies and procedures be adjusted and revised accordingly. Any new information will need to be reformatted and distributed to your cardholders.
Furthermore, your cardholders will come and go. A new hire will need to be informed and instructed of your program’s P&P.
Cardholders who went through initial training years ago, on the other hand, can benefit from regularly scheduled “refresher” training, to help remind them of old standards and review any new ones.
Communicate often to ensure success and reduce misuse
New information and new users—both good reasons to continue to communicate on a regular basis. Even better is the reduction of risk. With constant, clear communication, you can help prevent misuse and inappropriate spending within your purchasing card or travel card program. Thanks to Card Integrity’s training solution, you can continue to train and retrain your cardholders with your specific parameters, so there’s never any question of how to use the credit card correctly. Request a TrainingWISE demonstration today!
