How to Mitigate Fraud Risks in Business with Corporate Card

In an increasingly complex and globally interconnected business environment, the risk of fraud is one of the major challenges faced by companies. How companies can identify, prevent, and address the risk of fraud has become an increasingly important focus in successful business management. One of the tools that can assist companies in the fight against this risk is the usage of a corporate card. By using a corporate card, you will be able to reduce the risk of fraud in your business transactions.

In this article, we explain how a corporate card can effectively address the risk of fraud in business, help strengthen internal controls, and minimize losses that may occur due to fraudulent activities.

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What are the risks of fraud in a business, and how do corporate cards help mitigate them?

You may have heard the term "fraud" before. But, do you know what it means in a business context? In short, fraud refers to deception. Deception in this context refers to intentional actions by an individual or a party involved in the business that is intended to gain illegal profits, which can subsequently harm the company. The risk of fraud is a severe threat to all types of companies, whether large or small.

As a business owner, this is something that must be avoided. Fraud within a company can take various forms, such as the misuse of company funds, dishonest actions by employees, and even collusion with external parties. All of these can lead to financial losses and damage the company's reputation and the trust of your customers. As this can be detrimental to your company, you must address this risk as early as possible.

One way to address and prevent the risk of fraud is by using corporate cards. A corporate card is a type of credit or debit card owned by a company and provided to trusted employees or team members to use in business transactions. Corporate cards are specifically designed for business purposes and are typically used to pay for various business-related expenses and expenditures. This ranges from purchasing goods and services related to business continuity, and business travels both domestically and internationally, to footing the bills when entertaining clients.

Keen to learn more about the risks of fraud and how corporate cards can help mitigate the issue? Read on in this article. Risiko fraud dan penipuan dalam bisnis serta dampaknya

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The definition of fraud in a business context  

Fraud in a business context refers to a series of manipulative or deceptive actions carried out by individuals, employees of a company, or other related parties to gain illegal profits or harm the company or other involved parties.

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Types of fraud in business

Financial Theft

Financial theft in business encompasses actions such as stealing cash, manipulating financial records, or embezzling company assets. It can start with something as small as taking available cash for personal use.

Procurement Fraud

Procurement fraud involves various fraudulent practices in the procurement process, ranging from providing false information to overpricing goods or services.

Corruption

One of the most serious forms of fraud within a company is corruption. Corruption can be defined as the misuse of power or position within a company to gain personal benefits or provide benefits to third parties through illegal or unauthorized means. For example, making under-the-table deals with a vendor and taking extra profits for personal gain.

Document Forgery

This type of fraud occurs when there is the creation or use of fake documents or the alteration of legitimate documents to facilitate fraudulent activities. For example, data containing sales figures is falsified to make the company appear more profitable than it actually is in order to gain the trust of potential investors.

Insider Trading

The practice of insider trading can occur when someone who is part of a company utilizes information that has not been publicly disclosed or is still confidential to gain personal profit. This action can include the buying or selling company stocks by employees or company executives who possess confidential information that could affect stock prices.

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The Impacts of Fraud on A Business

Certainly, fraudulent actions or deception can be detrimental to a company. The extent of these losses depends on the scope of the fraud and how quickly it is detected. Some of the impacts that can occur due to fraudulent actions include:

Financial Loss

The most common impact of fraud is significant financial loss for the company. This can range from the loss of cash and assets to revenue obtained illegitimately.

Reputation Damage

When fraud leads to losses, a company's reputation and image are tarnished in the eyes of customers, investors, business partners, and the public.

Legal Sanctions

^Companies involved in fraud may face legal claims and penalties, ranging from mild to severe that are imposed by government authorities and regulators. Punishments may include fines, license revocation, legal lawsuits, and even imprisonment for fraud perpetrators.

Missed Business Opportunities

Fraud or fraudulent activities within a company can divert attention and resources away from genuine business opportunities, hindering innovation and growth.

Financial Instability

Financial losses resulting from fraud can threaten a company's financial stability and even its continued operations. These losses stem not only from the direct losses due to fraud or theft but also from the need to allocate a budget for investigations to uncover fraudulent activities.

High Employee Turnover

The impact of fraud can create an unsafe and uncomfortable work environment, leading to employee dissatisfaction and potential turnover. Losing valuable talent in this manner would be regrettable for any company.

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Corporate cards as the solution to fraud prevention 

Having corporate cards in your company can be a solution to fraud prevention. With corporate cards, you can better control your company’s expenses. But what exactly is a corporate card? A corporate card is a payment tool that supports a company in tracking, controlling, and automatically approving expenditures. Some corporate card service providers, such as Aspire, also offer additional features like integration and synchronization with various accounting software used by the company.

The function of corporate cards goes beyond being a payment tool for employees and company executives. Corporate cards also provide flexibility and convenience in using company funds while enforcing strict control over every expenditure.

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Features of corporate cards that can be used to prevent fraud

You can also use corporate cards to prevent fraudulent activities in your business transactions. Below are some benefits offered by corporate cards:

Expense Control

Corporate cards can be used to control overall company expenses. You don't have to worry about your employees making transactions beyond what is necessary because you can set specific limits for each cardholder, ensuring that there are no transactions that could harm the company. All expenditures will follow the established budget.

Real-Time Monitoring

As a stakeholder in the company, you can monitor transactions in real time to see what your employees are currently doing. This allows you to immediately identify employees making transactions without your approval.

Protection Against Suspicious Transactions

Like the features offered by regular credit cards today, you will receive notifications alerting you to any suspicious transactions to prevent leaks or unauthorized use of corporate cards.

Options for Usage Restrictions

In addition to limiting expenditures, you can also use usage restriction features for corporate cards. For example, each employee can only use the card three times in one month. You can also receive notifications if the allocated budget is nearly exhausted, ensuring that there is no excessive spending.

Additional Benefits of Corporate Cards

Beyond the features mentioned above, there are also various additional benefits to using corporate cards, such as simplified financial reporting management with a dashboard that records all business transactions, making it easier for you to obtain concrete and accurate financial reports. There is also the convenience of internal audits of all transaction activities in your business because every business transaction using a corporate card is recorded in real time. Additionally, promotions in the form of cashback and discounts are offered as an advantage of the collaboration between merchants and the corporate card provider you use.

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Steps to Safely Use Corporate Cards

After understanding the ease, efficiency, and benefits corporate cards offer, there are various considerations to consider when using them. One of these considerations is how you choose employees who will be granted the privilege to use these corporate cards and how you educate them to use the cards wisely. Educating employees about corporate cards is an important step to ensure that the cards are used wisely, in accordance with company policies, and help minimize the risk of misuse. Here are some ways to educate employees:

Employee Selection

To choose employees who can be corporate cardholders, you can analyze them based on your company's needs. For example, you can select employees who frequently travel for business, either domestically or internationally.

Policy and Procedure Orientation

Ensure that every employee understands the policies and procedures related to the use of corporate cards. This includes spending limits, allowable transaction types, approval procedures, and rules regarding reimbursements. Make sure these policies are available in written form and easily accessible to all selected employees.

Reporting and Monitoring

In addition to educating employees about policies, you also need to educate them on the importance of reporting expenditures made with corporate cards correctly and in a timely manner. Explain the reporting process, deadlines, and the required documentation to support expenditures, such as purchase receipts and expense evidence like photos taken during business trips.

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Using Aspire Corporate Cards as a fraud prevention solution in your business transactions

Now that you understand why corporate cards are crucial for preventing fraud in your company and how to condition their use for your employees, it's your responsibility as a business owner to choose the best corporate card provider from various options available in Indonesia. Aspire provides corporate payment cards that offer numerous advantages for your company.

Getting one is easy; you can sign up online and access your Aspire corporate payment card within minutes, with no monthly fees. Aspire's corporate cards are accepted by various international merchants for paying software subscriptions for your business needs, purchasing business essentials, making transactions during business trips, and much more.

Additionally, Aspire's corporate cards provide a cashback incentive of 1% for new users. Utilizing Aspire's corporate debit card can significantly contribute to the prevention of fraud in your company's business transactions. Moreover, the spend management feature enables you to create expense budgets and closely monitor them. This empowers you to manage your company's expenditures in accordance with your business objectives and capacity.

If you want to learn more about business financial management and guidelines for running a business, you can find more information on the Aspire blog!