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What are the Best Ways to Prevent Business Credit Card Fraud?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

There are a number of ways to prevent fraud committed with business credit cards. As with personal fraud prevention, the most important step to take when addressing business credit card fraud is to be highly observant of all accounts and to be prompt about reporting any unauthorized or unusual activity. Because business credit cards can have very high credit limits to facilitate big transactions, keeping such cards as physically secure as possible is also critical.

When officers and employees are issued business credit cards, they should be familiarized with the company's credit card policy. Cards should only be used for authorized business expenses and should not be loaned or shared with others. People should keep clear documentation and submit it with their statements to demonstrate that there are no fraudulent or personal transactions on the statement.

Shredding business credit cards from former employees can prevent fraud.
Shredding business credit cards from former employees can prevent fraud.

Individuals who hold company cards should be reminded that they are responsible for securing the cards in their care. When possible, they should physically swipe cards rather than submitting numbers over the phone or online. In addition, they should review all statements closely for any signs of peculiar activity. Such activity should be promptly reported to the card issuer and the business so the card can be canceled to prevent further transactions.

Individuals who hold company cards should be reminded that they are responsible for securing the cards in their care.
Individuals who hold company cards should be reminded that they are responsible for securing the cards in their care.

Companies should also carefully consider whether individual employees need credit cards. Business credit card fraud can be limited by keeping the number of accounts associated with a business low and limiting lines of credit on individual cards. An employee given a credit card to purchase gasoline only, for example, probably does not need a large line of credit or may be given a special gas card that can only be used for fuel purchases.

A common form of business credit card fraud occurs when employees leave and their cards are not collected and canceled. When an employee resigns or is fired, any secured items that employee has including office keys, identification cards, credit cards, laptops, company phones, and other materials should be collected. If employees lose any of these items, the loss should be immediately reported so that the business can take security measures if necessary.

Vendors can be another source of business credit card fraud, either by accident or intention. Businesses should only work with vendors who can handle secured transactions and they should ask vendors about the security of their business records. It is also advisable to ask vendors about their charging policies to ensure that a legitimate charge is not accidentally assumed to be business credit card fraud.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

sunshined

I have a company credit card and only take it with me when I travel. It stays out of my purse and in a safe location at other times. Sometimes it makes me nervous when I realize how responsible I am for this card. I have a few co-workers who are pretty careless with their card, but I have seen too much fraud to know how easy it can happen.

golf07

Maybe I am more careless than I should be, but I use the company credit card I have been given to make office purchases online. I rarely ever swipe the card as most of the purchases I make are either online or over the phone.

So far there has never been any problems. I know some people won't use their credit cards over the internet because of all the online credit card fraud. My opinion is that if you are dealing with a trusted, secure site, you shouldn't have any problems.

I use the company credit card at least once a month and never even see the bill for it. These go straight to the accounting department, and if they ever have a question about something, they ask me about it.

honeybees

When we started a home based business we also opened up a business credit card account. We were encouraged to do this as a way to build up credit for our business.

Many company credit cards would probably have a high credit limit, but we only started out with a small limit. We don't anticipate any major purchases, and I feel a lot more comfortable with a lower credit limit. When I hear stories about all the internet credit card fraud, it makes me nervous about using any kind of credit card online.

John57

My husband does a lot of driving for his job and has a company credit card for gas purchases. Depending on the price of gas and how much he drives, there are some months he has a fuel bill of over $2000.

I think the limit on this card goes up to $5000 and would be sufficient enough to cover the price of gas for one month. He just keeps the credit card in his wallet with the rest of his cards, but only uses it when he is putting gas in a company vehicle.

He is just as careful with this credit card as he is with any of his personal ones. Fraud is something that can happen to anyone, but he is careful and only swipes it at the gas pumps.

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    • Shredding business credit cards from former employees can prevent fraud.
      By: photoblink
      Shredding business credit cards from former employees can prevent fraud.
    • Individuals who hold company cards should be reminded that they are responsible for securing the cards in their care.
      By: tarte1987
      Individuals who hold company cards should be reminded that they are responsible for securing the cards in their care.