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In response to a growing demand for business solutions that increase profitability, productivity and efficiency, BMO Financial Group has introduced an enhanced Corporate MasterCard that offers businesses automated purchasing and management tools (such as its industry leading reporting tool, BMO details Online) that improve control over decisioning and automation and significantly reduces the time and cost associated with traditional paper processing.

The new BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard helps businesses take care of all their corporate purchasing needs – from day-to-day purchasing to travel and entertainment expenses – with a single credit card.  The new Corporate MasterCard makes it easy for businesses to consolidate tracking, managing and analysing purchasing activities using BMO details Online, a service which allows them to access, manipulate, export and integrate purchase data into their own existing data management systems. 

“Our customers are constantly searching for improved ways to automate and streamline business processes as a means to boost their bottom line,” said Randy Ford, Managing Director, BMO Corporate MasterCard Purchasing Solutions.  “We're offering businesses a set of tools that can really save them time and money.”

According to a 2005 Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey Report* by industry researchers Richard Palmer and Mahendra Gupta, using a corporate purchasing card reduces procurement cycle time by 68 per cent on average and reduces the number of suppliers in the accounts payable master file by 31 per cent.   In fact, the data shows that over the long term, for every $110 of business expense transacted with a corporate purchasing card, businesses save $28 in transactional costs, equivalent to approximately a 25 per cent price reduction.

In some cases, using a corporate purchasing card can also help to reduce the cost an organization might pay for its business supplies and materials.  According to the survey, 25 per cent of the organizations that use card data in supplier negotiations obtain card-data-generated discounts equal to two per cent or more.

“Paying for a business expense by cash or cheque may seem simple but the work involved in tracking and expense allocation is often time consuming and costly," explained Mr. Ford.

An accounts payable department typically manages vast numbers of documents on a daily basis, from incoming supplier invoices to outgoing cheques.  Despite a significant amount of time and money put into keeping the system afloat and reconciled, the process continues to be a maze of paper, with intricate systems of accountability. 

By streamlining business purchasing and payments with BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard, and using tools such as BMO details Online, companies are better able to control expenses, lower administrative costs and improve expense management through access to timely information and a comprehensive suite of reports.

BMO details Online

Companies using BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard have access to BMO details Online, a convenient web-based solution that consolidates all account information and reports. Unique features include:

�            Multi-level access by administrator plus designated employee with optional hierarchy set-up,

�            24/7 card program management to request corporate and individual card limit changes, contact information updates and add/delete cards,

�            Easy account management to access new and historical statements, unbilled transactions and available credit,

�            Comprehensive suite of reports including: tax reporting, spend analysis, travel management and fleet management reporting,

�            Enhanced data for viewing and manipulation including transaction details for hotels, airlines, car rentals and fuel where provided by vendors, and

�            Extensive data management functions to review, split and allocate transactions by client code/cost centre and export to internal business systems.

BMO Financial Group's new Corporate MasterCard has improved efficiency, control and security features, including:

�            Cardless account option where clients are issued an account number, instead of a physical card, for virtual use, or with preferred supplier accounts,

�            Employee delegation and purchase control features, which increases security, provides protection against employee card abuse and streamlines the buying and administration process,

�            Card program management via BMO details Online, with industry-leading reporting features such as tax reporting, spend analysis, travel management reporting and fleet management reporting, and

�            More options to earn AIR MILES Reward Miles.

About BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard 

BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard offers corporations, governments and institutions an effective method for managing business expenses.   MasterCard holders enjoy unsurpassed worldwide acceptance and BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard's streamlined reporting and reconciliation capabilities provide organizations with the ideal cash management solution. BMO is one of the top 10 MasterCard issuers worldwide and BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard is one of the top 10 North American issuers for corporate purchasing cards.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization.  With total assets of $306 billion as at January 31, 2006, and more than 33,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.  BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal, and through BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of Canada's leading full-service investment firms.  In the United States, BMO serves clients through Chicago-based Harris, an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal, business, corporate and institutional clients with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services.

*2005 Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey Report - Richard Palmer and Mahendra Gupta.  Data is not specific to BMO Financial Group Corporate MasterCard, but reviews the purchasing card industry as a whole.

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