Who’s Calling the Shots on Corporate Expenses?
In his remarks, Sergio Ortega stressed that one of the biggest pain points for companies isn’t just technology—it’s ownership. “Quite often, the real challenge is figuring out who’s directing this film. Every company is different, but the pattern is the same: ‘This isn’t mine—it belongs to someone else.’ And that’s when the usual suspects show up: HR, travel managers, Finance, Compliance, and even IT,” he said.
“The title of this film could well be ‘We’ve Always Done It This Way’. And from there, you’re dealing with legacy processes and inertia that are hard to shift precisely because ‘it’s always been done this way’—and it feels untouchable,” he added.
Once ownership is clear, the next step is to define the payments policy: whether to use cash advances, employees’ personal cards, or corporate cards. This is where an integrated solution becomes especially important. Integration and Automation: The Difference from Traditional Models
Integrating BBVA corporate cards—Spain, Portugal, Türkiye, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay—with SAP Concur Expense marks a clear shift away from traditional models.
For companies, the benefits are significant:
Greater control and automated reconciliation.
Data captured at the source (date, merchant, category, amount, and currency).
Fewer errors and issues linked to manual receipts or missing digital documentation.
For employees, the main advantage is simplicity:
Transactions are automatically uploaded to SAP Concur after payment.
No manual processes or field-by-field data entry.
A clear separation between personal and business expenses.
As Ortega noted, digitizing payments not only increases efficiency—it also strengthens transparency and compliance with internal policies.
A Better Employee Experience and Stronger Business Control: The Right Balance
One of the biggest challenges in expense management is striking the right balance between control and user experience. From BBVA’s perspective, corporate payment solutions make it possible to achieve both.
Employees have access to a corporate credit line tailored to their needs, so they don’t have to advance personal funds or deal with foreign currency when traveling internationally. They can use the card in person (Chip & PIN or contactless), through digital wallets, or for online purchases.
The experience is rounded out by the BBVA app, which gives users full control: they can receive real-time alerts, authorize online purchases, check transactions instantly, and temporarily switch the card on or off. All of this comes with the highest security standards.