This month, improve your P-Card program using Card Integrity’s “Springtime Solution” mini-series! First up: Clean your P-Card program by handling data reviews more efficiently.
It’s not unusual to do a little “spring cleaning” this time of year, but did you ever think of extending that clean up to your purchasing card (P-Card) program? Spring is the perfect time to straighten up data reviews and make your P-Card program more effective.
Clogging Up Your P-Card Program with Manual Data Reviews
One of the most inefficient methods of handling data reviews is by doing them manually — that is, in house and by hand. Manual reviews are inherently messy. They weigh down your P-Card program by adding more time and more work to what might already be an overloaded and understaffed system.
And yet, if you are running a P-Card program, chances are good that you used manual reviews when the program first began. And perhaps, you still do. But the fact remains that manual reviews are slow, clunky, and frankly, less safe than you’d like your reviews to be.
In-house reviewers—especially employees that lack the specific skills for such reviews — can miss important, key elements that could reveal misuse within your system. Sadly, your more unscrupulous employees might purposely and intentionally turn a blind eye and allow fraudulent activity to slip by. While it’s not pleasant to think about, the possibility of fraud from within always has to be considered.
If red flags are missed or worse yet, ignored upon review, the system becomes not only ineffective but downright dangerous to the financial well-being of your business.
Ways to Clean Up P-Card Program Data Reviews
But just as some elbow grease brightens up a home or office, a “spring cleaning” of your data review system can help eliminate any issues within it, while improving your P-Card program’s overall performance.
Here are some specific ways to clean up your P-Card data reviews to make them — and ultimately your entire P-Card program — run more efficiently.
Take time to evaluate your review system.
When was the last time you observed and evaluated the goings-on of your P-Card program and how data reviews are conducted? Have you even bothered to take a look? Now is the time to review the reviews. To do so, ask the following questions:
- Are the data reviews effective?
- Do they catch important red flags?
- Is criminal-like behavior within your program a reoccurring problem?
- Are the reviews keeping up with cardholder use, or are the reviews backlogged?
- Are they able to handle an ever-growing amount of transactions, and are they allowing your P-Card program to grow?
Develop your own criteria based on your business’s and P-Card program’s unique needs, and weigh it against your data review system. Only a hard look will reveal its weaknesses. Once the weak spots are identified, you can better handle them and strengthen them.
Streamline processes with software.
Technology makes reviews timely and precise. To decrease the risk of errors, software comes to the rescue. Programs can be set to look exclusively and intently for specific problems and repetitive bad behaviors on the part of cardholders. Programs can also identify and track red flags. Large amounts of information can be easily processed.
Furthermore, automation allows for rapid—yet still precise—on-time reviews. It’s difficult to catch misuse — let alone do anything about it — when the misuse occurred in the very distant past. Swift, punctual reviews are key to real success within your P-Card program.
While your business might not have the wherewithal to purchase and implement such a software system into your P-Card program, it’s exactly what Card Integrity provides as an alternative solution to manual, internal reviews. We combine the talents of our real live staff members with state-of-the-art software to provide the most accurate, complete, and comprehensive data reviews possible.
Declutter by removing unnecessary time, effort, and risk.
A manual review system adds effort to and takes time away from your internal business — and it does so unnecessarily. Something as simply as hiring a third-party system such as Card Integrity eliminates the need for an internal workforce. Rather than focusing on areas out of its realm, talent is funneled to areas within your company where it is better spent. Instead, your reviews are conducted by Card Integrity’s fully trained, skilled, and knowledgable staff members. Working together with our high-tech software to review your program’s data, they know exactly what to look for and when to do so.
Also, by using Card Integrity as an independent contractor, your business eliminates having internal employees who might have ulterior motives and be willing to conduct inside jobs for financial gain.
Take action on overlooked and underutilized areas.
Now that internal time and efforts have been liberated from data review, they can be reapplied as necessary to any weaknesses that your evaluation identified within your P-Card program.
Is your P-Card program growing? Do you need to issue more cards? Are communication processes lacking? Do new (and possibly old) cardholders need training? Is there red-flag behavior that needs to be integrated into the review system? Manage these weaknesses by again delegating what you can to a qualified provider such as Card Integrity. We provide services that turn such weaknesses into strengths for your P-Card program.
Make Your P-Card Program as Clean as a Whistle
A clean P-Card reviewing system is one free of fraud. It operates efficiently and effectively. Rather than bog the program down, it makes it stronger and more successful.
Ask yourself: Is manual review the best process for our P-Card program? Is our data review as clean and efficient as it can be?
Card Integrity’s solutions will clean up your data review and help everything in your P-Card system run more smoothly as a result. For more information on how Card Integrity can help you spring clean your P-Card program, call us at 1-630-501-1507 or contact us via our website today.
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