Table of Contents
Mastercard Virtual Cards
This article is about transaction feeds for virtual cards issued to you by your bank on a Mastercard program. For virtual cards issued out of ProSpend - ProSpend Cards and ProTem Cards - see Virtual Cards.
I. Overview
Virtual cards let your finance team issue a card per employee, project or supplier in seconds, with no plastic and no waiting. They are quickly becoming the default way Australian organisations issue company spend.
There is a catch when that spend arrives in ProSpend. Most virtual card programs issue every card under a single parent account, and it is the parent account number that appears in the card field of every transaction in the Mastercard feed. Until now, ProSpend used that field to work out who spent the money - so every transaction from the whole program arrived attached to one account and one person.
The individual card identity is in the feed. It is simply carried in a different field, and which field varies between programs.
ProSpend can now be told which field to use. When you set up a MasterCard card program, a new Card Identifiers section lets you choose which field identifies the card and which field supplies the account name. Transactions then arrive already attached to the right cardholder, with a recognisable name against them.
II. High-Level Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Transactions by | Choose which field in the feed is used to match each transaction to a card and cardholder |
| Card Account Name | Choose which field supplies the Account Name shown on the bill cycle and stored against the card on a user's profile |
| Custom field support | Map to a custom identifier or to a named custom data field defined by your card program |
| Card number protection | Values that look like card numbers are masked |
| Change history | Every change to the Card Identifiers section is recorded against the card program with the user and date |
III. What you can do now to prepare
You can get your card program ready before this becomes available. Three things -
- Confirm which field carries your card identifier. Ask your bank which field in your Mastercard feed holds the individual virtual card number, or the employee identifier you would prefer to use. If it sits in a custom data field, ask for the exact label text as well.
- Make sure the field is always populated. Whichever field you map on has to be filled in every time a virtual card is issued. If it is left blank, those transactions will arrive against the parent account rather than the cardholder.
- Ask us to enable Card Programs. Card Identifiers is part of the Card Programs feature. If Card Programs is not enabled on your site, contact ProSpend support.
Getting this in place early matters, because configuration applies to transactions imported from that point forward. Transactions that have already arrived under the parent account cannot be reorganised later.
IV. Feature Details
A. Where to find it
Go to Treasury > Card Program Setup, then either Add Card Program or use the Edit action on an existing program. Set Type to MC - MasterCard and the Card Identifiers section appears.
B. The two settings
| Setting | What it controls | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Group Transactions by | How each transaction is grouped for assignment to a claimant | Card Number (default) / Custom Identifier / Custom Financial Data |
| Card Account Name | The Account Name column on the bill cycle, and the account name stored when cards or accounts are created against your users | Cardholder Name (default) / Custom Identifier / Custom Financial Data |
- Card Number and Cardholder Name are the existing defaults. Leave them as they are for a standard corporate card program.
- Custom Identifier reads the custom identifier field in the feed, which is where a virtual card number is usually carried.
- Custom Financial Data reads a named field from the custom data in your feed - for example an employee identifier. Selecting this reveals a text box where you enter the label.
C. Entering a Custom Financial Data label
If you choose Custom Financial Data, the label field is required and must match your feed exactly, including spacing and capitalisation.
Example - If your card program uses the label Employee ID, entering Employee Id or Employee ID (with a trailing space) will not match, and imports for that program will fail until the label is corrected.
D. Choosing the right combination
The two settings are independent, and that is worth thinking about.
On a virtual card program, the only cardholder name in the feed is often the parent account's. If you group by Custom Identifier but leave Card Account Name as Cardholder Name, your transactions will separate correctly but every account will end up with the same name. If you change one setting, review the other.
Our general recommendation -
- Group Transactions by - the field carrying the virtual card number, because it is unique to each card.
- Card Account Name - a name or identifier field rather than a card number, so card numbers never appear on the bill cycle.
The right choice depends on your program, and it is yours to make. A virtual card number is unique per card but changes when a card is reissued. An employee identifier survives reissue, but can repeat if one person holds multiple cards, which would merge their spend. We are happy to look at a sample of your feed and talk the trade-off through with you.
E. Where the Card Account Name appears
The value you select is used in two places -
- The Account Name column on the bill cycle page
- The account name stored when cards or accounts are created against your users
F. Change history
Changes to the Card Identifiers section are recorded against the card program, with the user who made the change and the date and time. Open the card program and select History.
V. Important things to know
- Changes apply to new transactions only. Transactions already imported are not regrouped or renamed, and they cannot be reallocated afterwards. The edit screen shows a reminder of this.
- When a virtual card is reissued with a new number, and your program is grouped on the card number, the new number is treated as a new account. Your administrator links that new account to the right user. The previous account stays as it is, so earlier history is preserved.
- If the identifier is blank on a transaction, that transaction is grouped against the parent account. The rest of the file imports normally. If it keeps happening, the value is probably not being captured when cards are issued - worth checking with whoever administers your card program.
- If the Custom Financial Data label is missing from a file, the import stops rather than attaching transactions to the wrong person, and our support team is notified with the reason.
- Card-like values are masked. What you see in ProSpend will be a partial value and will not visually match your bank portal. This is deliberate.
VI. Not included
- Visa and American Express virtual card programs. This applies to Mastercard feeds only.
- Reorganising transactions that were imported before the configuration was set.
VII. Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why is all our virtual card spend appearing against one account and one person?
A. Virtual card programs usually issue every card under a single parent account, and it is that parent account number that appears in the card field of every transaction in the feed. Until the card program is configured with the right identifier field, ProSpend uses that field to identify the cardholder, so all spend groups together.
Q. Which field should we use?
A. It depends on your program, and the choice is yours. We generally suggest grouping on the virtual card number because it is unique to each card. Some organisations prefer an employee identifier instead, because it stays the same when a card is reissued. Send us a sample of your feed and we will talk it through with you.
Q. Will card numbers appear on the bill cycle?
A. Not if Card Account Name is pointed at a name or identifier field, which is what we recommend. Card-like values are also masked regardless of which field they come from.
Q. Why doesn't the identifier in ProSpend match what we see in our bank portal?
A. Card-like values are masked, so ProSpend shows a partial value. This is expected.
Q. Can you fix the transactions that arrived before this was configured?
A. No. Configuration applies to transactions imported after it is saved, and earlier transactions cannot be reallocated. This is why it is worth setting up before your program's first feed.
Q. What happens when a card is reissued with a new number?
A. If your program is grouped on the card number, the new number is treated as a new account and your administrator links it to the right user. The previous account remains, so that cardholder's earlier history stays where it is.
Q. What happens if some transactions don't carry the identifier?
A. Those transactions are grouped against the parent account and the rest of the file imports normally. If this recurs, the value is most likely not being captured at card issuance.
Q. Can our administrator change these settings, or does ProSpend have to?
A. An administrator can change them under Treasury > Card Program Setup, as long as Card Programs is enabled on your site. Every change is recorded in the card program's history.
Q. Does this work for our Visa or American Express virtual cards?
A. Not currently. This applies to Mastercard feeds only.
Q. What do you need from us to set this up?
A. A sample feed file, and confirmation of which field carries the card identifier - plus the exact label text if it sits in a custom data field. Your bank can confirm both.