Navigating the Evolving Commercial Cards and Rewards Landscape

Interview with Josh Berwitz, Chief Commercial Officer at Ascenda

What do you see as the primary reasons businesses choose to adopt commercial cards in their financial operations?

JB: Businesses primarily adopt commercial cards to track employee spending, simplify their accounting and reporting workflows, and gain access to valuable rewards and benefits. According to our research, the top motivations include rewards (62% of participants), expense management and tracking (45%), and overall convenience (33%). Companies are looking for more than just a payment tool – they want a comprehensive spend management solution that provides rewards, simplifies expense reporting, and offers additional benefits like travel perks.

Are there particular business sizes or industries that benefit most from implementing commercial card programs? Why?

JB:Smaller businesses, particularly those with 51-200 employees, tend to perceive more value from commercial card programs. From our research, these companies reported higher satisfaction rates (3.82/5) compared to larger organizations (3.46/5). For larger companies that experience high transactions and rigid spending policies, having expense tracking enabled in a commercial card program that offers compliance and analytics for future budgeting can go a long way. 

Industry-wise, there are some nuanced differences: SaaS and software companies prioritize rewards and technical integrations, while traditional sectors like manufacturing and construction have historically preferred established providers with proven track records. The flexibility of commercial cards in providing instant virtual cards, distributed spending controls, and tailored rewards makes them especially attractive to small and medium-sized businesses seeking efficient expense management.

The report highlights significant spend leakage to personal cards. What are the key drivers of this behavior, and how can commercial card providers address it?

JB:The number one driver of spend leakage is the fact that card users want to maintain the benefits that they get on their personal cards, which they often perceive to be more valuable. An overwhelming 86% of participants in our research have used their personal cards for business expenses, driven by several factors:

• Personal rewards preference (24%): Employees want to accrue personal points or miles
• Convenience and forgetfulness (21%): Ease of use trumps corporate card usage
• Card acceptance issues (17%): Limited acceptance of some commercial cards
• Technical problems (16%): Functionality gaps in corporate card programs

To address this, providers should create more compelling rewards programs that benefit both the company and employees in addition to improving card accessibility and reliability, ensuring wider merchant acceptance, and offering better integrations with existing business processes. 

How have advancements such as virtual cards and seamless integrations made commercial cards more indispensable for modern businesses?

JB:Virtual cards integrated with expense management systems have transformed commercial cards from simple payment tools to true spend management platforms. The report highlights that 32% of businesses desire enhanced expense management and reporting tools, while 14% look for better accounting system integrations. Capabilities such as instant virtual card issuance, real-time expense tracking, and automated accounting sync have made these cards crucial for business operational efficiency. For example, companies can instantly create virtual cards for specific expenses, distribute cards across team members, and automatically track and categorize spending – these all reduce administrative burden and improve visibility over the flexibility of rewards, and the underlying richness of the value proposition create differentiating factors in a space where a large percentage of companies are willing to contemplate issuers.

The report highlights evolving customer expectations around rewards and expense management tools. How can providers better anticipate and meet these changing needs?

JB:Providers must move beyond card propositions that are one-size-fits-all and develop more sophisticated, segment-based reward strategies driven by customer behavior. For example, awarding loyalty points to employees who manage company expenses responsibly.  The report suggests that 31% of businesses want improved rewards earning opportunities, and 51% will switch providers if they see better benefits elsewhere. The key is personalization and flexibility: creating rewards programs that align with specific business needs.

American Express leads with 37% of the market, but fintechs like Ramp and Brex are gaining traction. What do you think has driven the success of fintech players like Ramp and Brex in capturing market share, and how can traditional providers respond to this competition?

JB:Digital transformation in the corporate finance sector is driving fintech disruption in the commercial card landscape. As businesses flock to cloud-based solutions and utilize data to operate more efficiently, there’s a growing demand for financial tools that integrate with these modern processes. 

Challenger fintechs like Ramp and Brex have disrupted the market by positioning their products as modern solutions for modern businesses, offering user-friendly expense management platforms that traditional providers lack. While they’ve gained significant market share, they still lag behind traditional providers in compelling rewards propositions and brand recognition.  

Traditional providers should lean on their strengths: strong brand presence, regulatory compliance, bolstering their reward value propositions, and accessibility with both domestic and international merchants. However, they must continue to up-level their customer experience to be more seamless, simple, and digital to not cede market share to challenger fintechs.

The report notes that 41% of companies feel neutral or dissatisfied with their current provider. What improvements do you believe would most effectively address these concerns?

JB:Providers should focus on delivering tangible value through dynamic and competitive rewards that rival personal cards. As highlighted in the report, spend leakage to personal cards occurs due to the lack of attractive or diverse rewards offered. Transparent pricing, streamlined customer support, and flexible platforms that integrate into existing business finance workflows. Features such as real-time spend visibility, enhanced data analytics, and dynamic rewards can help align the product’s benefits more closely with business’ needs. Ultimately, the key is to transform the card from a simple payment instrument into a robust financial tool that drives efficiency, savings, and adoption. In addition, providers need to regularly analyze performance data in order to keep a pulse on what their customers want.

With 86% of participants using personal cards for business expenses, how can card issuers encourage greater compliance and adoption of corporate cards?

JB: The report highlights that 62% of participants consider rewards as the most important card benefit, and 51% are looking to switch for a better provider. By designing commercial cards that employees actually want to use, issuers can shift behavior away from personal cards. Offering compelling, business-relevant rewards and intuitive expense management tools creates a meaningful incentive, as does simplifying the claims process and adding automated spend alerts.

How is Ascenda using these insights to refine its own strategies and offerings in the loyalty and commercial card sectors?

JB: We’re using these insights to help our partners—card issuers—build more attractive, rewarding, and customer-centric offerings that are better aligned with the needs of their customers.

Understanding that rewards content is the top consideration for commercial card adoption, we’re well positioned to leverage our extensive network of global loyalty partners and rewards content, along with our loyalty as a service model to help clients drive ROI across customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. With real-time analytics, simplified integrations, and more engaging rewards content, our solution delivers results for providers while delighting end-users. 

Are there opportunities for Ascenda to collaborate with card providers to address some of the pain points highlighted in the report?

JB:Absolutely. Ascenda expertise, platform and content allow us to help our clients craft compelling engagement strategies. We can partner with card providers to integrate our customer engagement platform, analytics tools, and lifecycle marketing capabilities directly into their existing ecosystems. By sharing insights and combining strengths, we can co-create card solutions that meet today’s demands for greater transparency, efficiency, and personalization. This collaborative spirit not only resolves common pain points but also drives innovation, ensuring that card programs remain relevant, valuable, and future-proof.