Travel & Entertainment Best Practices

Travel and entertainment expenses can be numerous and considerable in size. Having guidelines in place it will make the process easier for you and your cardholders:

• Having a signed cardholder agreement that lists all unacceptable charges and allows the cardholder to know exactly what is expected of them.
• During card orientation, make sure that acceptable and unacceptable purchases are reviewed and ensure they are clear to the cardholder.
• Have cardholders collect and retain proper receipts for their transactions as required by your cardholder agreement.
• By monitoring transactions online, early detection of fraud is in your favour.

Setting up ghost cards at travel agencies and other commonly used vendors can simplify the travelling process, as travel expense are allocated directly to the company, eliminating the need to have a higher limit on cardholders' accounts.

Prior to travelling:

• Verify the limit available on your card before travelling. If the limit is not high enough for a particular trip, you can request that your administrator have your limit increased.
• Call the Scotiabank Card Service Centre to inquire if there are any restricted countries on fraud alert, as restricted countries will cause declines.
• Plan ahead to ensure that the vendors you intend to use will accept Visa.
• Print a copy of the Travel Insurance Documents to bring with you.

While travelling:

• Check available funds often - running out of credit can be easily avoided by calling your Scotiabank Card Service Centre.
• Estimate your total charges prior to checkout to determine if there is enough credit available on your card. If necessary, a quick phone call to your administrator can increase your limit.
• Keep all documentation from each transaction, as this will be necessary for the reconciliation process.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact your Scotiabank Program Manager or email us at commercialcard@scotiabank.com