MasterCard Worldwide on Wednesday announced that Fifth Third Bancorp is adopting an element of MasterCard’s InControl service for commercial card customers in an ongoing effort to convert more business-to-business payments from check to cards.
Through Purchase Control, an InControl offering, Fifth Third will enable corporations to make preapproved B2B purchases using “virtual” account numbers. The one-time-use numbers are designed to enhance payment flexibility and security compared with traditional commercial card payments, automated clearinghouse payments or checks, MasterCard says.
Corporate customers may use Purchase Control to plan card payments within specific limits and conditions, and the purchase data contained within the transaction also enable corporations to more closely track payment status compared with other payment types.
“Our customers in many industries, including health care, are asking for this,” Patrick Moore, Fifth Third senior vice president of treasury product management, tells PaymentsSource, noting the offering suits “a wide spectrum,” from small travel-and-entertainment purchases to large capital purchases. “We expect Purchase Control will help us to drive more B2B payments from checks to cards.”
MasterCard unveiled its inControl platform in 2007, and in January 2009 it purchased the technology’s developer, Dublin-Ireland-based Orbiscom Ltd. (see story) http://www.paymentssource.com/news/giving-consumers-control-can-cut-issuer-2669981-1.html
Citigroup Inc. last year announced it will use inControl to issue virtual card numbers to commercial card customers under its own brand name, Citi Virtual Card (
Royal Bank of Scotland has used inControl since 2008 for its commercial cards in Europe under the brand name RBS Approval to Buy, MasterCard says.
