Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 08 October 12, 1995 - New AMEX Corporate Purchasing Card now available

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

New AMEX Corporate Purchasing Card now available

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 08 - October 12, 1995

A new card, the American Express (AMEX) Corporate Purchasing Card, can reduce the typing of speed purchase orders.

Departments can now use the Corporate Purchasing Card for the purchase of goods and services valued up to $1,000 per transaction. Of course, personal use is not allowed. Also, it is not for payment of travel expenditures, which would be handled through the Travel Corporate Card held by individuals.

Five departments have just completed a three-month test period using the Corporate Purchasing Card. During this time, the Purchasing Department established the policies and procedures necessary to implement the program for the whole university, and smoothed out the processes to make it as easy as possible.

Departments benefit from the use of the card by reducing the number of speed purchase orders and accounting vouchers that must be typed and processed. Department heads will approve one transaction for payment per month to AMEX rather than signing, in some cases, several hundred purchasing documents.

Vendors benefit from the AMEX card because they receive payment in about three days from AMEX rather than waiting 30 days for payment from the department in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act. Because payment is made immediately, vendors greatly reduce their administrative time in applying payment to their accounts receivable records.

If you are interested in using the Corporate Purchasing Card, call Debra Bales (Purchasing Department) at 1-8548, or e-mail dbales@vt.edu . Bales will answer your questions and provide an application for a card.