Virtual card and spend management platform, BMO and virtual card distribution platform, Extend, have partnered; adding a range of payment functionality to BMO’s ‘Corporate Cards’.
In part due to its relationship and collaboration with Mastercard, BMO commercial bank clients in North America are now able to use a mobile and desktop app by Extend. The app ensures clients can create, send, and manage virtual cards for simplified payment and reconciliation processes.
BMO becomes the first company to work with Extend in Canada. Extend provides an opportunity for BMO’s clients to deploy secure virtual cards from their existing BMO Corporate Card program. The process does not require technical integration, and the card distribution platform suggests it can be done as quickly as five minutes.
The partnership also means that Corporate Card clients can use Extend’s API. The technology provides clients with an onramp to payment innovation. The API provides open documentation for integrating virtual card issuance and management directly into their systems and existing workflows.
The Extend API offers instant transaction matching, strict security controls, and support for high-volume transactions. The features allow users to optimise core business functions with a flexible virtual card API.
Bringing the future of spend management to business users
Andrew Jamison, CEO and co-founder of Extend, spoke about the additions. Jamison said: “Too often, teams try to manage and track miscellaneous spend by sharing physical Corporate Cards. This leads to cumbersome expense reports, manual reconciliation, unattributed spend, or card misuse.
“By giving BMO’s clients an easy way to extend the features of their existing Corporate Cards, BMO is bringing the future of spend management to business users today.”
Derek Vernon, head of product management and enterprise payments modernisation at BMO Commercial Bank, commented on the partnership. Vernon said: “Our Corporate Card clients want to keep their spending secure and controlled, while reducing costs.
“The Extend for BMO app solves this critical need with the power of virtual cards that retain all the benefits our clients already enjoy with their Corporate Card program while helping them make real financial progress.”
Darrell MacMullin, SVP of products and platforms at Mastercard Canada, explained how Mastercard supported the partnership.
MacMullin said: “Mastercard is committed to empowering businesses with flexible and secure virtual payment solutions that grant more control over spending while helping to alleviate the headache of disjointed expense processes.”
“By delivering rich virtual card capabilities, BMO is leveraging the value of the existing Mastercard-Extend partnership for the benefit of its small and medium-sized business clients across North America.”
