Most likely this will happen when you don’t have the time to deal with it as well. Most people will not remember every vendor that has the card information, and updating everyone with the new card can be time consuming. Also, most banks take at least seven days to get a replacement to you! What do you do then?
Here is an easy way to prevent a huge future headache in your finances. Simply separate your vendors expense cards, either by type of expense or even alphabetically. I would also keep the vendors with large charges on a card of their own. For example, you have a PPC campaign that costs you a small fortune every month. Keep all of those transactions on the same credit card. Then, if there is a problem at any point, it is simple to give that vendor a new card and have the issues handled in under ten minutes! I also keep an unused card in a drawer. If there is a problem, I won’t have to wait the seven to ten days it will take the bank to send a replacement. Once I update my vendor with the new card, I call the bank and ask them to send me a new card, as well as cancel the old. This may cause a bit of confusion in the beginning, but you will get use to the process fast and thank me a lot later.
It is also easier to track your expenses and prevent fraud when you separate charges on different cards. A good example is running a Google ad word campaign. The daily charges do not usually match the invoiced amount, making it harder to keep track of. If you know that the total you pay each month should be $15,000.00, and you are charged $18,000.00, it is easier to verify these charges are your s and valid if there are fewer transactions on it and the charges are only for this vendor. I would make sure you are only paying for your ad words account and no one else’s. Like you segregate duties, segregate cards.
Another tip to prevent fraud, order new cards once a year, and update your vendors with the new information. Let’s spend some time now to protect the future!
