Corporate Card | Policies

1. PURPOSE

The American Express (AMEX) Corporate Card provides College employees with a convenient method of payment for College-approved travel and travel-related expenses.  This policy is intended to inform employees how to apply for an AMEX Corporate Card, when to use it and the procedures to follow when seeking reimbursement/payment of card expenses incurred in the performance of College-related responsibilities.

2. CORPORATE CARD

2.1  Availability of the Corporate American Express Card

Teachers College will provide, upon request, an AMEX Corporate Green Card free of charge to employees who are in departments requiring a significant degree of College-approved travel, and who are authorized to receive by their department head.

2.2 How to Obtain a Corporate American Express Card

All academic department heads should send an email requesting a corporate card for a staff member to the College’s Provost or the President’s Office. All non-academic department requests should be forwarded to the VP for Finance & Administration. Once approved by the respective areas, a request to formally start the applicable process along with the approval and a completed corporate card application should be forwarded to the Office of the Controller. The application will be submitted to AMEX for credit approval and card issuance. The usual processing time is approximately three weeks after applications are submitted.  The Office of the Controller will notify employees when their AMEX cards are available for pick-up.

2.3 Use of Corporate Card 

The Corporate Card should be used for College-approved travel and related expenses including transportation, lodging, car rentals, and meal costs. The card will be restricted for use with vendors registered as “travel” via their merchant code with American Express.  The Card should not be used for membership in a rewards program.

2.4 Terms of AMEX Agreement

By accepting and signing the card, cardholders agree to the terms and conditions provided with the card, Amex Agreement Between Corporate Card Member and Amex Travel Services Co. Please note, these terms include agreement for AMEX to obtain and request credit bureau and other reports relating to your credit history and may include periodic checks of a cardholders creditworthiness.

An account becomes delinquent if payment has not been received and credited to the account by AMEX within 30 days of the statement billing date.  Late payment fees or interest charges resulting from late payment are not reimbursable by Teachers College and are the cardholder’s responsibility.  The Corporate Card may be canceled at any time due to payment delinquency. Individuals whose cards have been canceled due to non-payment of charges will not be allowed to rejoin the program.

Under the Corporate Card program, monthly statements from AMEX are mailed and/or emailed directly to cardholders as requested. Teachers College will remit payment to AMEX for all completed and fully approved charges submitted through Chrome River on or before the date due to Accounts Payable.  This submission and processing calendar can be found on the MyTC Portal.  See Reimbursement Procedures below for additional information

2.5 Surrendering the Card upon Termination of Employment

The Corporate Card is the property of the College.  When a cardholder’s employment is terminated with the College, it is the responsibility of the department head to advise the Controller’s Office of the termination prior to the last day of employment so the card can be timely cancelled and any outstanding balance settled before issuance of the individual’s final paycheck. The cardholder must cut the card in half and return the halves to his/her department head/supervisor. Should a balance exist and/or expenses are charged to the card after an employee’s termination, and for which the employee does not remit payment to AMEX, the department will be charged for such expenses.  If such situation is recurring, the department’s Corporate Card privileges will be revoked. 

2.6 Personal Charges

The Corporate Card is intended to be used for College business only.  Personal expenses should be charged to personal credit cards.  Monthly detail reports of all charges made against the Corporate AMEX card are made available to the College.  If it is reported that personal charges have been incurred with the Corporate Card, the card may be cancele

2.7 Lost or Stolen Cards

Lost or stolen cards should be reported immediately to American Express at 1-800-528-2122.

3.  REIMBURSEMENT OF CORPORATE CARD EXPENSES

3.1    Documentation Standards

The Internal Revenue Code requires reimbursable expenditures to be supported by adequate records which clearly establish that they are (1) ordinary and necessary, (2) reasonable in amount and (3) incurred for a valid business purpose.  In order for expenses charged to the AMEX card to be reimbursed by the College, they must be incurred for College-approved travel and related expenses or business related entertainment and must also meet the documentation standards set forth herein. All expenses must be incurred in accordance with the College’s expense reimbursement policies.

3.2    Reimbursement Procedures

Requests for AMEX payment processing is through submission of a Chrome River monthly Amex Reconciliation Report.  Please contact the Accounts Payable Office as soon as you receive your new card for training and procedures surrounding the the AMEX Chrome River processing functions. General procedures and best practices include:

1. Create a Chrome River AMEX Reconciliation Report(s) early in the billing cycle process and upload receipts as expenses are incurred during the month
2. Add the totals for all Chrome River Amex reconciliations created for the month, and compare (reconcile) the net of the report total to the amount due on the Amex statement
3. Identify and address all discrepancies found between the Statement amount due and the total of the report(s) submitted
4. TC Policy does allow for an occasional missing receipt under $25; however, this does not mean that receipts are not required for expenses under $25
5. All approvals (Expense Owners, Supervisors, Grants) must be completed on or before the Final AP Submit dates (see Chrome River Processing instructions) for the Chrome River Reports to advance to the Accounts Payable Dept for approval and payment
6. Amex payments for reports not presented (or fully approved) by the Final Submit dates is systemically assigned the next month’s payment due date
7. Please use Chrome River ‘Tracking’ to determine if follow-up is required to advance the Expense Reports to Accounts Payable by the submission date
8. A copy of the payment stub (the first page of the monthly statement) must be sent to apinquiries@tc.columbia.edu for Amex to accurately apply payment(s) sent

3.3    Reimbursement Timetable

Accounts Payable will make payment to American Express for all final approved expenses only and will issue and maintain the Amex Corporate Card Calendar detailing submission and approval due dates for all expense reports. 

Responsible Office: Controller

Last Updated: February, 12, 2020