VISA COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS Visa Enhanced Data capture Maximise operating efficiencies and lower costs through detailed spend analysis.
Table o f Contents 1 Introduction...2 2 The value of Enhanced Data...3 3 What does Enhanced Data look like?................................. 4 4 The benefits of Enhanced Data...5 5 Visa Enhanced Data Capture process flow....................... 6 6 The role of suppliers........................................ 7 7 Integrating Enhanced Data...8 8 Measuring your benefits...9 9 Frequently asked questions....................... 10
Introducing Visa Enhanced Data Capture Smart businesses realise that payments and receivables are more than an administrative task; they can represent a competitive advantage. That is why more and more businesses are using enhanced data to reduce their purchasing costs through detailed spend analysis, policy compliance, and expense controls. Visa Enhanced Data Capture is a service that has been designed to augment Visa s existing data acceptance and processing capabilities. It is available with Visa commercial solutions, including Visa Purchasing card, Visa Corporate card and Central Travel Account. Visa Enhanced Data Capture makes it easier for suppliers to provide enhanced data as they can submit data files in proprietary formats for validation and on-forwarding to clients expense management systems (EMS). Enhanced data benefits clients, card issuers and suppliers in many ways and this platform will enrich the data management process. Clients can transform the richer information they receive into business intelligence and make better purchasing decisions. Suppliers can develop better relationships with their clients. Understanding Visa Enhanced Data Capture and how it works is the first step towards realising the benefits it offers. Along the way, there are numerous best practices your company can follow to help make the most of enhanced data. iintroducing Visa enhanced data capture 2
The value of Enhanced Data Typical credit card statements include some information about each transaction. But Visa Commercial cardholders and programme managers have potential access to a wealth of data that can help them better understand their usage. This data is divided into three categories based on level of depth. Level 1 data is the information found on a typical card statement: merchant name, city, date and amount of transaction. Level 2 and Level 3 data are collectively known as Enhanced Data. Clients with supported Visa Commercial card programmes can obtain detailed transaction information, such as that shown in the table below, from participating suppliers. This information is passed electronically from suppliers to the card issuer s reporting systems. Visa Enhanced Data Capture can provide the comprehensive information you need to help track spend, maximise purchasing efficiencies and minimise programme administration. BEST PRACTICE COMPANIES... Understand the use of enhanced data and the applications of Level 2 vs. Level 3 data Choose a card programme partly based on enhanced data availability Recognise the role enhanced data plays in overall spend analysis Communicate enhanced data s value to internal stakeholders Information Provided Data Level : 1 2 3 Basic Financial Cardholder information Data Transaction amount & date Currency code & conversion Merchant name, etc. Enhanced Purchasing Sales tax breakdown Data Categories Customer reference (e.g. cost centre, GL, P.O. or invoice number) Merchant order number T&E Sales tax breakdown Categories Airline & rail: passenger name, carrier, city pair, service class Hotel: duration of stay, daily rate, folio number Car rental: days rented, daily rate, car class Purchasing Product code Categories Item description Item quantity Item unit of measure and unit price Discount amount Ship to/from T&E Airline & rail: arrival & departure times, trip legs, etc. Categories Hotel: incidental charges (parking, phone, minibar, etc.) Car rental: renter name, insurance, fuel, etc. Fuel: type, quantity, unit price, non-fuel subtotals, etc. the value of enhanced data 3
What does Enhanced Data look like? Level 2 and 3 data is delivered electronically and can be broken down in a number of ways, including by participating merchant category code (MCC), supplier name, cardholder, cost centre, and others. Transactions can be viewed in their entirety, e.g. by head office for all company card accounts, or selectively, e.g. by individual cardholders or by specific departments. Though reporting software layouts vary, enhanced data may look similar to the screen shown below. A C B D Data shown is for illustration purposes only. A Categorise spending by MCC and by specific merchant C Automatically break out different tax amounts, e.g. sales to analyse spending patterns and identify spending tax, state or city tax, to facilitate regulatory reporting. outside policy. D Receive detailed transaction records including item B Easily reconcile transactions using a unique booking quantities, unit cost, descriptions and commodity numbers reference from the supplier. to enable inventory & materials tracking. what does enhanced data look like? 4
The benefits of Enhanced Data Whether it s through readily quantifiable results such as improved vendor negotiations, or administrative efficiencies such as easier tax calculation for compliance purposes, enhanced data is useful to any company with an interest in spend analysis. Visa Enhanced Data Capture has been specifically designed to monitor file submissions from suppliers, and rectify incorrect or missing data. This helps to improve the accuracy and quality of the data files that your clients receive. The benefits of enhanced data include: BEST PRACTICE COMPANIES... Have an established card programme Ensure that card programme administrators are available to receive, integrate and use enhanced data Ensure that reporting tools to receive and analyse enhanced data are available from their card issuer Encourage key suppliers to participate in the Visa Enhanced Data service Programme Administration Enables monitoring of employee and supplier transactions Delivers procurement data directly to your account management reporting system Maintains a single repository for procurement data Accounting and Reconciliation Facilitates budget reporting and allocation to the general ledger and cost centres Eases e-procurement reconciliation Assists in reimbursement activities and reconciliation of cardholder statements Tax Reporting Level 2 data provides a breakdown of sales tax and other applicable taxes Level 3 data can help fulfill your audit requirements for sales tax reporting Supplier Negotiations Presents a company-wide view of all Visa Purchasing, Visa Corporate, and Visa Commercial Card spend Provides detailed information on purchases which can be used to negotiate prices with suppliers Compliance Helps monitor adherence to purchasing policies, including the use of non-preferred vendors the benefits of enhanced data 5
Visa Enhanced Data Capture process flow Visa Enhanced Data Capture strengthens Visa s existing data transfer and reconciliation process by providing flexible and seamless delivery of data from suppliers. To begin, it captures supplier proprietary format invoice data files, then validates the required data quality against pre-determined rules. If the data is incorrect or if missing data is identified, Visa Enhanced Data Capture allows the supplier to correct the problem through an integrated web portal. Correct invoice data is then passed to Visa s enhanced data matching platform and matched with the issuer s transactional data to form complete data files for the client. THE ENHANCED DATA PROCESS Proprietary file formats Visa Enhanced Data Capture Notification Capture Extract Validate Rectify Communicate Customer Rectification Suppliers Validated invoice data is provided for enhanced data matching Enhanced output file with validated and matched data Visa Commercial Card Data Repository Visa IntelliLink Spend Management, Expense Management Solution, Electronic Resource Planning system Enhanced Data Matching Visa enhanced data capture process flow 6
The role of Suppliers Participating suppliers play a key role in the flow of enhanced data; in fact, most suppliers who pass enhanced data do so because their buyers have requested the service. It is important to analyse your relationships with your suppliers to understand what data is currently being provided, and to assess how receiving enhanced data can benefit your business. Choosing to pass enhanced data offers a competitive advantage to suppliers, as businesses are increasingly demanding such reporting in order to facilitate their own spend analysis. If necessary, your Visa-issuing financial institution will work with you to help get your key suppliers to adopt Visa Enhanced Data Capture. BEST PRACTICE COMPANIES... Develop preferred supplier criteria based partly on enhanced data capabilities Work with their card issuer and current suppliers to identify enhanced data providers Ensure enhanced data provision is a requirement in all RFPs sent to card-accepting suppliers Discuss enhanced data provision during contract negotiations with suppliers Communicate with their payment network and card issuer to ensure key suppliers pass enhanced data Work closely with preferred suppliers to coordinate the process of implementing enhanced data Meet with suppliers, issuers and acquirers to ensure enhanced data s implementation is seamless the role of suppliers 7
Integrating Enhanced Data Integrating basic spend data into your ERP or financial reporting system is necessary in order to facilitate reconciliation, payment and reporting. But the enhanced data services provided by Visa offer compelling benefits above and beyond basic account management, further facilitating cost allocation, tax reporting, and compliance. Enhanced data performs well against other B2B data types in terms of utility, benefits, and ease of use. Data Type benefits Constraints Commercial card with Enhanced Data Transaction data can be easily mined/reported Inexpensive for clients Available exclusively for card spend Relatively new to market Traditional Vendor Invoices Used for most transactions Some suppliers provide customised reports with client-specific data easily consolidated for mining/reporting purposes Excessive manual processing for paper invoices Customised reports typically not easily consolidated for mining/reporting purposes E-Procurement and Purchase Order (PO) Data Transaction data can be easily mined/reported Data incomplete if supplier doesn t close purchase order Costly to implement Usually used for indirect spend and some inventory categories EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Transaction data can be easily mined/reported Independent of type of spend or payment type Costly to implement EIPP (Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment) Transaction data can be easily mined/reported Independent of type of spend or payment type Costly to implement BEST PRACTICE COMPANIES... Work with their card issuer to integrate enhanced data into their ERP or financial accounting system Receive enhanced data for card purchases Integrate enhanced data into employees expense reimbursement/cost allocation systems to improve convenience integrating enhanced data 8
Measuring your benefits Given the pressures on all businesses to increase profitability by lowering operating costs, the spend management capabilities provided by Visa Enhanced Data Capture can prove invaluable. For example, Level 3 data can be used by a company to negotiate for optimal pricing from a supplier to achieve greater cost reductions. In a world where $1 in cost savings has the same effect on the bottom line as $10 of revenue, such cost reductions multiplied many times over for different transactions and suppliers can have a significant impact on your company s financial health. As a feature of Visa Corporate, Purchasing and Commercial Cards, Visa Enhanced Data Capture adds value by fostering customer acquisition and retention, increasing cost savings, and helping to ensure regulatory compliance. BEST PRACTICE COMPANIES... Measure the value of their enhanced data programme and develop strategies to expand it Derive specific, quantifiable benefits from enhanced data, such as: card use as a strategic spending tool improved purchasing policy controls vendor compliance to contracts spend validation from non-contract suppliers measuring your benefits 9
Frequently Asked Questions General 1. What is Visa Enhanced Data Capture? Visa Enhanced Data Capture is an electronic invoice data capture and processing service that integrates with Visa s existing data management systems to accept and process electronic invoice files from suppliers in proprietary file formats. These proprietary files are then validated and converted to Visa file formats for processing to clients. 2. Why has Visa introduced this new service? Visa Enhanced Data Capture broadens the reach of the current data acceptance and matching services provided by Visa. The existing Visa platform currently processes enhanced data in Visa specific formats from suppliers. This typically creates a challenge for suppliers, and the certification of Visa file format requirements lengthens the implementation process, thus impacting clients. Visa Enhanced Data Capture simplifies this process by allowing suppliers to submit invoice data in non-visa file formats. The platform then validates the data and converts the supplier files to Visa file formats for matching and processing to the client s EMS. Visa Enhanced Data Capture strengthens the commercial card proposition, helps to facilitate the penetration of the non-card travel, entertainment and low value high volume B2B category, improves business-to-business acceptance of Commercial Cards, provides a level of quality control in the processing of supplier data, and provides the client with accurate, reliable and detailed card spend information. FOR SUPPLIERS 3. How will the new service impact our company s current invoice data submission process? Your company will be required to generate an electronic invoice file in the same manner and format that it currently does and upload that file to the Visa Enhanced Data Capture platform. Visa Enhanced Data Capture validates the data within the file against preset parameters. Incorrect invoices will be rejected and will need to be corrected via a web portal correction service and resubmitted for further validation. Your company will also have access to a number of reports, both operational and management, some of which will require actioning on a daily basis. For instance, a daily rejection report will be communicated, indicating those invoices that have been rejected and that require amending and resubmission. Management reports will provide statistical information that can be used to monitor the performance of the card programme and compliance with expenditure policies. 4. Does our company have to sign up for Visa Enhanced Data Capture? No. Participation is up to each company. However the provision of electronic invoice data to your clients will provide your clients with a greater level of detail around their purchases which they may find invaluable in their expense management process. frequently asked questions 10
5. How will the new service benefit our company? Visa Enhanced Data Capture will result in your company s clients receiving a greater level of transactional data, more accurate and timely data, and it will also enable those clients to better manage and monitor expenditure in line with their procurement policies. This may provide your company with a competitive advantage, resulting in repeat business and potentially new customers. Also by encouraging your clients to make payment by card, you are streamlining your own payments process by eliminating cheque processing and paper invoicing. 6. How will this new service benefit our clients? Visa Enhanced Data Capture will allow your company s clients to receive detailed, accurate and timelier transactional data, resulting in improved match rates, and enabling those customers to better manage and monitor expenditure in line with their procurement policies. Clients using cards in the purchasing process will streamline their payments process, reduce invoice handling costs and payments processing costs, compared to using cheques and electronic funds transfer (EFT). 7. Is there a cost to my company to participate in this service? The only costs to your company are those costs incurred to undertake any necessary development work to be able to capture and process electronic invoice files to Visa. 8. What training and support will staff receive as part of the on-boarding process? What services will be available to staff post-implementation? As part of the client on-boarding process, Visa will work with you to communicate these changes to your staff internally. Staff training will be provided to the users of the system, with future training taking the form of train-the-trainer sessions. Comprehensive training manuals and user manuals will be provided to your company, in addition to helpdesk support services. FOR ISSUERS 9. How will this new service benefit card issuers? This new service may provide card issuers with a competitive advantage over other more expensive card schemes, and may provide card issuers with greater card volume as more and more supplier payments are made using card. frequently asked questions 11
For more information on how Visa Enhanced Data Capture can help turn your payment processes into a competitive advantage, please contact your local Visa financial institution or visit: https://enhanceddata. capture.visa.com visa enhanced data capture 12
This publication could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. These changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Visa may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the programs(s) described in this publication any time. 2013 Visa Worldwide Pte Limited. All rights reserved.