Despite its benefits in terms of cost reduction and payment times, the acquisition card remains relatively confidential, especially in large private companies, which are reluctant to acquire an additional tool. Suppliers would also be reluctant to enter such a scheme. Often questioned on the subject as part of its missions to optimize the supply-to-pay chain, Acxias remains on active watch and follows the evolution of the offer in this area.
More than twenty years after the first deployments, will the purchase card eventually prevail in France? Because the device, which appeared in the early 90s in the United States, then arrived a few years later in Europe via the United Kingdom, is still struggling to convince. And this, despite its advantages, mainly in terms of costs and processing times. What is it about ? The purchase card is a professional means of payment entrusted directly to the end “customers”, who use it like a traditional bank card, on site or remotely. As one of the objectives is to lighten processing, it is especially suitable for current and recurring purchases (general expenses, travel, etc.) which represent small amounts but generate numerous invoices, or for indirect purchases PUnctuals that are difficult to manage using an ERP or a standard e-purchasing solution.
On a technical level, unlike the classic bank card, the acquisition card is part of a structured process and requires the installation of bridges between the actors concerned: buyers, suppliers, financial institutions. In addition, there are technical service providers responsible for ensuring controls or managing transactions, according to four levels of data restitution. Level 1 corresponds to the invoice data for a classic credit card transaction. It requires recreating the transaction in the purchasing and accounting information system. From level 3, the transaction statement drawn up by the issuing bank, which includes additional data, is equivalent to an invoice and can be used as proof of the expenditure. This statement, which includes in particular data necessary for the tax dematerialization of the invoice (designation and article code, quantity, unit price excluding VAT, VAT rate, amount of VAT, amount including VAT), makes it possible to initiate an automated processing flow.
A shortened and simplified acquisition process
For the purchasing company, the device replaces the traditional purchasing process (purchase request, order, issuance of payment orders, etc.) poorly adapted for these fragmented expenses, and for which it is difficult to identify upstream and make available to applicants items in the form of electronic catalogues. The acquisition card process shortens and simplifies the acquisition scheme and thus allows for substantial administrative gains.
It is also part of a technically and legally secure context: authorization of holders, definition of ceilings (by order, period, category, etc.), restriction to only suppliers referenced by purchases, etc. "The purchase is faster than the classic procedure which requires, in the best case, an additional week," agrees Carlos Viegas, senior manager (PTP Program Management) at Autodesk, in charge of the acquisition card program at the finance department located in Switzerland. "By shortening the payment term, the system also gives us more room to negotiate with suppliers."
Convinced 10 years ago of the value of the tool, the IT group has deployed, around the world, four types of acquisition cards: 50 "Supplier P-Cards" (specific for a supplier), 20 "Buyer P-Cards" (specific to each buyer), 400 "Meeting and Event P-Cards" (purchases related to major projects), 230 "Multi Vendor P-Cards" (office supplies, small expenses, etc.). These cards are potentially usable for all categories of purchases, except software or services, from the moment the suppliers have joined the program. Another advantage pointed out by the manager, beyond purchasess : "Invoicing processing is greatly reduced, which relieves the accounting teams". The card would also guarantee a control of consumption thanks to a responsibility of the "users" and a better visibility on the expenses, by a fine reporting on categories that until then escaped the purchasing teams.
On the supplier's side, the acquisition card device makes it possible above all to accelerate payment terms. "Obtaining a settlement in four to five days is an undeniable advantage," admits Christian Rouvière, director of public procurement at Rexel (distribution of electrical equipment for professionals), who works with more than twenty regional or national public customers using the acquisition card, in particular the Ministry of Defense. Not only is cash flow improved, but customer reminders become useless and possible collection costs are eliminated. The use of the acquisition card, validated by a contract between the stakeholders, can also secure the markets by guaranteeing a certain volume of business under fixed conditions.
About thirty publishers concerned by the map
Despite these advantages, and with the exception of subsidiaries of multinationals often of Anglo-Saxon origin, some large groups and the public sector (central administrations, local authorities, etc.), the French market remains wait-and-see. For several reasons. The complexity of the project, on the purchasing side would be a first explanation. Implementing an acquisition card scheme may require a rethinking of how it works and how it works. With a sometimes difficult technical component, especially since the players in the e-purchase market seem to be only weakly interested in the subject. Of the thirty publishers who completed the questionnaire distributed by Acxias to produce the functional tables of his book " The Digitalization of Purchasing ", only a third party say they manage the acquisition card.
Many companies whose purchasing processes are already very structured and computerized, do not see the point of using a map through a tool. This is the case, for example, of Saint-Gobain, which works with acquisition cards only in the United States, in virtual form. "In France, we are still very attached to traditional flows, via the IT solutions we have deployed," explains Nicolas Gastinel, e-procurement manager at the group. "For indirect purchases, especially the most recurring ones, end customers go through our Perfect Commerce-based platform, before the information flows into Sap. In addition, rather than acquisition cards, the use of catalogues allows us to better control demands and therefore consumption."
Saint-Gobain also believes that this scheme avoids imposing additional costs on its suppliers, and allows it to monitor the proper application of the rules. Autodesk would operate in a different logic: only travel purchases and business expenses would be made through an e-purchasing tool, SAP Ariba's Concur platform, in connection with the accounting system. "For the other categories, card purchases are managed autonomously," says Carlos Viegas. "A monitoring and audit procedure makes it possible to control the expenses, which are then consolidated in an accounting document via the partner bank, in order to be recorded."
Suppliers would also have their share of influence in the delay of the acquisition card in France. Behind the advantages, most of them only see the cost of the necessary adaptation of their billing chain, especially their information systems, especially when it comes to specific tools, small or specialized. The providers especially regret the rate of commissions, which they consider too high, even if, according to the main banks offering the card, the costs have decreased very significantly in recent years. "In addition to the cost of IT development and the work of negotiation with banks, the system also involves dedicating an internal manager," adds Christian Rouvière, from Rexel, who accepts both the level 1 purchase card, for transactions with branches in France, or 3, for remote ordering via the Rexel Achats electronic ordering site set up for customers.
Implementation of a support offer
Despite this reluctance, a dynamic would be set in motion, according to ACOA (Actor for the promotion of trade and dematerialized purchases), under the impetus of the many projects carried out in ministries and local authorities. A trend that would also be noticeable in the private sphere. Each year, the use of the card would increase, both in number of transactions and turnover, according to the latest balance sheets presented by the association. Not only do purchasing departments that already use the map appreciate seeing their administrative tasks decrease and processing shortened, but experiences show that a limited investment may be enough to adopt the map and provide the details of the order lines. As for the price of managing card transactions, it usually depends on the size of the company and the volumes to be processed. In the end, the return on investment would be extremely short.
Other factors should contribute to the acceleration of the deployment of the card in France. First, the fact that the addressable perimeter is largely extensible. Apart from strategic products or services and stored goods, for which computerized monitoring and control procedures are already in place, all purchases can theoretically be made using an acquisition card. "While our $70 million in card purchases each year represent only 8% of the total, and 90% are in the United States, we have a significant margin of deployment," confirms Carlos Viegas. "Our procedure should also allow us to move forward. Not only do we identify candidates when sourcing by asking each supplier if they are able to use the acquisition card, but our partner bank conducts recruitment campaigns."
Regulatory developments in favour of dematerialization, in particular for invoices and responses to calls for tenders, should also stimulate projects. As well as the work carried out at European level to promote the interoperability of platforms, within the framework of Sepa, the Single European Payment Area. In this constantly evolving context, monitoring and sharing experience seems crucial to better understand the issues related to the deployment and use of the acquisition card. Acxias teams, often questioned on the subject, can also help companies that wish to deepen or deploy a device in this direction. To provide the best response, the firm is in the process of finalizing a support offer offering a structured and constructive approach.