Netherlands-based spend management company Yokoy has announced the introduction of the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card which digitises travel and cost processes and offers companies new insights. The card is part of Yokoy's spend management platform and is integrated with selected travel partners' systems.

This provides travel managers and finance departments with greater transparency in the management of business travel and travel expenses. This solution is the latest addition to Yokoy's expense management platform. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Yokoy aims to give businesses control of their business spending by automating expense management, invoice processing, and business payment card management.

Business travel management Yokoy’s mission is to tackle the issue of error-prone and costly travel invoice processing with the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card by enabling automatic reconciliation. Where traditional cards usually provide monthly statements, with the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card all travel and transaction data is entered directly into the Yokoy platform, where they are merged without manual intervention. This saves companies time when handling travel costs and provides an overview of their travel costs.

Yokoy combines travel reimbursement with an expense management platform. A 'lodge card' is a virtual company pass that is stored in a company's travel booking tool. All expenses for flights, trains, and travel agency fees are paid through this card, and in some cases also expenses for hotels.

An employee can therefore choose a flight or train ticket via the company's online booking tool. This is then automatically paid with the lodge card.   Issued as a Visa debit card Issued in Europe as a Visa debit card, the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card works exactly as described above, but with the added benefit of automated workflows.

Bringing travel data into Yokoy's expense management solution lays the foundation for new insights. Companies can use these insights for cost control, among other things. For example, they can evaluate how much is being spent at the employee, department, or project level.

Using the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card is another step toward a fully data-driven decision-making process for CFOs and their finance department. Businesses also receive 0. 1% cashback on every transaction.

  Integrations with travel booking tools and travel agencies The Yokoy Smart Lodge Card is integrated with TravelPerk travel booking tools and travel agencies using Umbrella. Integrations with other travel agencies will follow. With the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card, companies can address the problem of reconciliation and automate the entire matching and reconciliation process.

For full coverage of all travel expenses, the Yokoy Smart Lodge Card can be combined with the Yokoy Business Platinum Visa Card to also cover expenses incurred while traveling, such as paying for a taxi or dinner. According to a Yokoy representative, while their new lodge card focuses on pre-trip payments, their smart payment card gives employees the flexibility to pay for their expenses during the trip. Ultimately, all these transactions come together in Yokoy for reconciliation, giving finance departments a complete picture of the cost of a business trip.

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