Understand purchasing cards

What is a purchasing card

A purchasing card, also known as P‑Card, payment card or procurement card, is a type of company card. Employees can use the card to charge goods and services on behalf of their employers without going through the traditional purchase request and approval process. A purchasing card uses existing credit card infrastructure to make electronic payments for business transactions. It is a consumer credit card; the card-using retailer must pay the card issuer in full each month.

Processing of purchasing cards

Processing of purchasing cards is different from credit cards. The quantity processed by purchasing cards, and the amount of information required to secure the transactions may require higher processing levels. The higher the processing level, the more transaction information is required. By capturing more data, businesses can take advantage of lower interchange rates.