Page 1 of 9. 1 How Business Buys, Visa Canada Association, Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey Results",R. Palmer & M.Gupta.

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1 More than $10 million in annual sales or operating budget More than 50 employees Purchases of day-to-day business expenses (i.e. office supplies, courier, computer equipment) A need for streamlining the purchasing process Lowering operating expenses is an ongoing management challenge. The VISA Purchasing Card Program helps companies manage the purchasing process more efficiently to meet this challenge head-on. This not only helps to lower costs, but also speeds up the delivery of goods and services and frees up time for more strategic business priorities By automating and simplifying time-consuming, paper-based procurement processes, the VISA Purchasing Card Program reduces the need for requisitions, purchase orders, invoices and cheques. The numbers speak for themselves. A study of medium- to large-sized Canadian businesses shows that it takes an average of 5.3 days and $55 to complete a single purchase order. With the average company processing 4,835 purchase orders a year, the costs add up. 1 By simplifying and speeding-up the process, the VISA Purchasing Card Program can lower internal transaction costs by as much as 76%. 2 Detailed transaction and spending data, customized reporting features and data tracking tools give managers more detailed purchasing information and the ability to monitor vendor purchasing activities and individual cardholder purchases over time. This allows you to fine-tune your internal purchasing process and negotiate better deals with external suppliers. Beyond the savings that flow from a streamlined procurement cycle, VISA Purchasing gives you the tools to maintain control of employee spending. Variable transaction authorization limits and Merchant Category Code blocking allow management to establish spending guidelines and approve merchant types in advance to ensure greater control of the process. Detailed transaction and spending data give you a 1 How Business Buys, Visa Canada Association, Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey Results",R. Palmer & M.Gupta. Page 1 of 9

2 clearer picture of individual cardholder and overall company spending and vendor costs. This will help to identify maverick spending and cost over-runs to ensure compliance with company spending policy, budgets and limits. The VISA Purchasing Card Program offers outstanding features that combine to give managers and administrators more assurance and control, and cardholders more flexibility. Ultimately, it all adds up to a more effective way of doing business. VISA cards are internationally recognized, accepted and respected. In fact, VISA cardholders are welcomed at over 600,000 merchant locations in Canada and over 20 million locations in more than 150 countries. This level of acceptance gives VISA Purchasing cardholders the flexibility to select the vendors of their choice - both nationally and internationally. Whether it s for computer or office equipment, office supplies, catering, courier services or most other business expenses, the VISA Purchasing Card Program gives cardholders the flexibility to quickly and directly make purchases in person, over the phone, on the Internet, or by mail. Customized reporting, management and data tracking tools improve your control of the entire purchasing process. Automated and customized VISA Purchasing Card transaction data flows from each card Issuer, empowering managers to monitor, analyze and report on expenditures, negotiate with suppliers and ensure purchasing policy compliance. In addition, high-level reports give Senior Management a broad overview of spending within the Card Program, including merchant statistics and exception reporting that identifies spending outside of corporate policies. VISA Purchasing Card clients enjoy access to VISA Enhanced Data Services which delivers more detailed line-item information on their card purchases. This helps maximize the efficiency of purchasing and tax reporting while minimizing administration. The benefits of VISA Enhanced Data Services are substantial. With more detailed information on the nature and source of purchases, companies enjoy greater leverage when negotiating with suppliers.this can result in more cost-effective negotiations worth 5 to 10% in pricing reductions. 3 3 Visa International Enhanced Data Study, Deloitte Consulting, Page 2 of 9

3 VISA Enhanced Data is only available from enrolled suppliers. If necessary, your VISA- Issuing Financial Institution will work with you to help get your key suppliers enrolled in the program. From initial consultation to complete program implementation, VISA- Issuing Financial Institutions offer a range of support services including implementation assistance, 24- hour customer service and professional account management. Card Issuers will ensure administrators are fully trained on the various program and administration tools and reporting functions, and will work closely with administrators to help educate cardholders using different training aids including user guides. Once a program is up and running, ongoing account management support from the card issuer helps a client to make any necessary adjustments to ensure the program fully meets the client s expectations. Visa and its Issuers also offer a collection of Best Practices reports including: Guidelines to assist with managing Purchasing Card-related commodity tax compliance. Tools to benchmark a company s procurement and payment processes against Best Practices, including improvement recommendations. Cardholders enjoy 24-hour toll-free access to global customer assistance services, including lost/stolen card reporting, cardholder inquiries and emergency card replacement within 24 hours anywhere in North America. The VISA Purchasing Card Program empowers program administrators to maintain control of company spending without having to manually approve each transaction. On a cardholder by cardholder basis, daily or monthly transaction authorization limits and pre-set spending limits can be set. Card use can be limited to specific merchant categories, and companies may choose to block certain merchant types all together. For example, many programs allow restrictions to prevent card use at casinos and jewellers. Transaction authorization controls are established when the card is requested, and the card is delivered with the controls already in place. The program administrator can easily change the restrictions as required to reflect changes in corporate policy or cardholder s responsibility. While employee misuse is rare, Corporate Liability Insurance (CLI) provides a waiver of a Company's liability for unauthorized charges up to $50,000 per enrolled VISA Purchasing Card for unauthorized charges made by employee cardholders. Page 3 of 9

4 VISA Purchasing Card clients can integrate their VISA Purchasing Card transaction data into their existing systems without a costly integration investment. VISA-Issuing Financial Institutions are able to integrate transaction data into the leading ERP systems allowing clients to make the best use of their transaction data. The VISA Purchasing Card Program gives companies the choice of three billing options: Centralized company billing and payment Individual cardholder billing with centralized company payment provides cardholders with a list of all related transactions for verification purposes Individual cardholder billing with individual payment Depending on a company s expense reporting practices cardholders may or may not require a monthly statement. By having a choice of three different options companies can chose the solution that works best within their organization. Card charges can be assigned to specific expense accounts, posted to a general ledger and consolidated on one or more statements. The accounts payable department pays for all purchases with one cheque instead of issuing multiple cheques to multiple vendors. Visa is the world s leading payment solutions organization and a major payment card provider in Canada. Visa Canada is a privately held Membership association owned by Member Financial Institutions who issue the various VISA Cards. While Visa Canada and its Members work collectively to promote card usage and growth, the individual Financial Institutions are competitive in the acquisition and servicing of clients including cardholder accounts and in the development of new products and services. For more information on implementing a VISA Purchasing Card Program in your company, please visit any of the following VISA Purchasing Card Financial Institutions: Page 4 of 9

5 Bank of America Stacey Guzeldere Vice President Tel: (312) Bank of America's Purchasing Cards provide efficiencies and the marketproven solution to reduce the high costs of managing business expenses. Our proprietary Web-based electronic expense reporting and card management solution provides secure reporting to help manage and automatically integrate expense data. Authorization controls, billing options and payment options are flexible and are chosen by the client to best meet and support business and corporate policies. Liability insurance covers card misuse up to $50,000 per employee. Multi-language customer service is available 24/7 and handles standard inquiries as well as emergency cash and card replacement. Page 5 of 9

6 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Commercial Card Services Tel: (416) Toll Free: The CIBC VISA Purchasing Card Program is designed to replace the traditional purchasing process for such things as office supplies, computer software, cleaning services, or any other non-asset item. As a client of the CIBC VISA Purchasing Card Program, you'll simplify the whole process of expense management - saving you countless hours of reconciling and monitoring expenses. Here's just a glimpse of the time and money-saving benefits you'll enjoy - all offered at no extra charge: On-line consolidated management expense reporting that increases control while reducing paperwork. Control on individual cardholder limits and spending behavior. Merchant blocking capability by cardholder. Corporate Liability Waiver Insurance, up to $50,000 in coverage for each card. Worldwide merchant acceptance of VISA. And much more... Page 6 of 9

7 Visa Desjardins Yan Cote Account Manager, Commercial Card Solutions Tel: Toll Free: The VISA Desjardins Card is more than just a credit card. It is a complete expenditure management system that helps you optimise your company's purchasing process for recurring and operational purchases. This gives you more time for strategic purchases that have an impact on the profitability of your business. Centralized billing To simplify your purchasing process, VISA Desjardins sends only one monthly account statement, that consolidates all of the purchases made by cardholders throughout the month. Cardholders may receive a separate copy of the statement so they can verify the transactions on their account. One-time payment The Purch@sing Card reduces the number of cheques you write to suppliers. Your company only makes one payment for all the purchases made during the month. Controlled use You determine the latitude that cardholders have: daily and monthly purchasing limits maximum transaction amount limited number of transactions per day certain businesses can be blocked specific retailers can be blocked Simplify your purchasing process with the VISA Desjardins Purch@sing Card! Page 7 of 9

8 Royal Bank of Canada Youmna Abdou Head, Business Visa Cards Tel: (416) Royal Bank of Canada has established a joint marketing agreement with U.S. Bank Canada to provide commercial cards to our customers. Scotiabank Cameron McPhail Director - Enterprise Solutions Tel: (416) cameron.mcphail@scotiabank.com Manage both travel and procurement transactions with singular ease using the Scotiabank Commercial Card. A Commercial Card Program is recommended for businesses with: Sales over $20 million per year and spending of at least $3-$5 million per year charged to company credit cards Decentralized buying authority A large number of suppliers Geographically dispersed operations Significant travel and entertainment expenditures With the Commercial Card Program in place businesses can: Monitor cardholder spending by automatically comparing purchasing activity to established business rules Implement spending controls down to the cardholder level and track companywide spending Monitor travel policies by generating customized reports The Commercial Card Program is flexible, scalable and can be fully customized and integrated with existing and future business processes. Also, as a Commercial Card client company, a Scotiabank Program Manager will be assigned to manage your account from initial consultation through program implementation, ensuring it continues to meet your company's evolving needs. Our consultative approach and extensive experience with industry 'best practices' ensures your program will meet its fullest potential and your exacting specifications. Page 8 of 9

9 U.S. Bank Canada Kevin Jephcott Vice President - Sales, Relationship Management & Marketing Tel: (416) kevin.jephcott@usbank.com Page 9 of 9