Sabre Eyes Virtual Card Universality With Conferma Integration

Corporate travel solutions firm Sabre and virtual card company Conferma are teaming up to streamline corporate use of virtual cards.

Reports Monday (Nov. 28) said Sabre has integrated Conferma’s system to allow Sabre’s corporate clients to automate purchases of air travel via virtual card. Previously, businesses using Conferma virtual cards to book travel would have to create the virtual card number in Conferma then copy and paste that number into Sabre to book a reservation.

Now, the process is automated, and according to Sabre VP of Payments Neil Fyfe, the integration will make virtual cards the dominant way companies using Sabre pay for air travel.

In an interview with Business Travel News, Fyfe added that their collaboration ensures payments security for corporate clients as well.

“We are providing full fraud protection,” he told the publication. “It is a card service that does not get compromised. The corporate client is not having to replace the business travel account number if there is a fraudulent transaction.”

According to reports, only the last four digits of the virtual card number are shown, even for the booker, by having the Conferma virtual card generated within the Sabre platform.

Sabre also noted that the collaboration negates the need for manual reconciliation and bookkeeping, as all of the transaction data is automatically entered into the Sabre platform. Further, the company added, the virtual cards are issued along with information attached to the transaction that make for greater visibility in employee and corporate spend.

“It’s an absolute watershed,” said Conferma Director of Strategic Relationships Paul Raymond about the integration. “It’s the first time the process has caught up with the requirements of the travel industry. People always thought it was a good idea, but they wanted a fully integrated solution. Now that’s happened, it should allow a real step change for virtual cards.”

Sabre’s integration with Conferma follows the T&E company’s earlier announcement that it would be partnering with Coupa to integrate Coupa’s T&E tool into Sabre’s corporate travel booking platform.