In order to achieve a bespoke card solution to fit Lundbeck, ING first focused on understanding the company’s needs: control and compliance of payments, management efficiency, and a reduction of travel expenses.

Problem…

Lundbeck’s French affiliate was quite content with the corporate card arrangement that they had held with a local French bank for over a decade, but headquarters was unfamiliar with this financial institution. This invariably led to queries and questions around certain banking approaches the French bank took that were not aligned with the group’s house bank, ING, according to Cécile Jouclas, Chief Accountant at Lundbeck. “Overall, we felt that it might be easier to work with the same bank as our group. We already had quite a satisfactory solution with our existing domestic bank but we were looking to align our banking partners with that of the rest of the company.”

There was no need for an RFP (request for proposal): as Lundbeck’s house bank, ING was the obvious choice. Instead, it was more a matter of finding out in what ways ING could offer the same services and functions that the French bank had provided. “In particular, the replacement bank would need to offer an equivalent expense control solution to what we already had,” says Jouclas. For example, as a pharmaceutical company, many people who have a genuine need for a credit card on a daily basis (business expenses) are on the company’s payroll. Jouclas, therefore, was looking for a solution/service that would enable those employees to continue to operate their daily functions in the manner that they had been while retaining simplicity for the back office with regards to reconciliation, control and monitoring.

…Solved

Although under no obligation to change banks by group headquarters, Jouclas recognised the benefits that could be garnered from a more uniform banking relationship across the entire company: economies of scale, attractive pricing and full company cash visibility being just a few incentives. However, before making the leap, the French entity was determined to ensure that they were working with a team that they could trust. “When we first met with the ING team and they presented us with their solution, we were won over by their professional approach,” says Jouclas. “Prior to the changeover, we were assured that ING understood the organisation of Lundbeck, where we fit into that structure, what we needed and so on. They also guaranteed that the implementation would be uncomplicated for us – we wouldn’t have changed banks otherwise.”

In order to achieve a bespoke solution to fit Lundbeck, ING first focused on understanding the company’s needs: control and compliance of payments, management efficiency, and a reduction of travel expenses where possible. The bank proposed a card solution that has features such as:

• Spending caps tailored to the company’s travel policy for individuals, by department, or across the company.
• Sophisticated online tools – ING Corporate Card Online and MasterCard smartdata.gen2 – for automated and intelligent management of business travel expenses.
• A corporate card scheme accepted by more than 30m locations worldwide.
• Various corporate card programmes with individual pay and company pay including payment terms from 28 – 60 days.

Throughout the implementation, Lundbeck and ING discussed the progress on a weekly basis – consultations that ranged from as short as five minutes to several hours – until a satisfactory resolution was reached. This approach allowed both parties to bring up and solve challenges and to align on the current status and next steps. The standard of service that ING offers is impeccable, according to Jouclas. “This high level of communication is very beneficial to the company as a whole and a constant comfort for us as we are new to the relationship.”

Furthermore, ING has recently presented Jouclas’ department with the concept of SMS alert, the implementation of which would allow employees to know a few days in advance how much will be debited from their bank account. Says Jouclas: “I am very pleased to have worked with the experts on the ING team and we look forward to working with them in the future.” The ING commercial card solution product line enables centralised and decentralised organisations to standardise and simplify expenditures made by its employees. At the same time this solution enhances the financial supply chain, increases the overall control and minimises costs and fraud risks.