SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 20, 2004--GE Corporate Payment Services' SAM(TM) System Supports Sophisticated Accounting Needs Drawing on more than 12 years of experience serving some of the world's largest and most demanding commercial card customers, GE Corporate Payment Services has released a new advanced reporting system.
The SAM(TM) system - short for Strategic Account Management - supports the real-time management of purchasing, travel and other corporate card and e-settlement programs.
The system uses the newest Web technology, providing commercial card program managers with powerful reporting, querying, account and supplier maintenance, and global management tools. Its general ledger mapping functions simplify the accounting of commercial card and e-settlement transactions.
We estimate that SAM's accounting features can automate more than 75 percent of all incoming card transactions, transmitting the data to the correct general ledger account without editing by the user. In addition, the system fully supports GE's vPayment e-settlement product, which can raise the percentage of 'hand's free accounting' to more than 90 percent, Jeffery R. Dye, President and CEO of GE Corporate Payment Services said.
Our customers -- especially those with complex project code accounting and global travel needs -- will find that the system delivers increased accuracy, streamlined reconciliation processes, and more information for vendor negotiation, said Dye. With high-speed architecture, Web access, and new reporting features, SAM helps organizations move beyond the purchase to new levels of process efficiency.
The system is highly customizable, not only to organization hierarchy, accounting structure, security needs and individual user preferences, but also to customer brand. The system interfaces with financial and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, allowing users to allocate expense data to proper cost centers quickly and easily. Cardholders and program administrators can view transactions, edit accounting and maintain account details in a flexible interface.
Organizations that have individual-bill travel card and central-bill purchasing card programs can manage both on a single platform. The system supports mining of the rich detail of transaction addendum records, including airline, hotel folio, shipping/courier, temporary help, rental car, fuel and non-fuel expenses. To help review spending on a worldwide basis, customers can load global transaction data in more than a dozen currencies including the euro, with flexible options in currency conversion and reporting.
With more than 140 standard reports and a highly intuitive query tool that accesses hundreds of fields, SAM puts a focus on vendor activity and cardholder compliance. The system replaces and significantly enhances the features of Corporate Payment Services' existing PARIS and Synergy reporting systems.
About Corporate Payment Services
Corporate Payment Services, the commercial card unit of GE Consumer Finance, develops and markets corporate bank cards and e-settlement tools designed for small-, medium- and large-sized companies and organizations. Cards are issued by GE Capital Financial Inc.
For more information, visit www.gebusinessmarketplace.com.
GE Consumer Finance, a unit of General Electric Company, with more than $116 billion in assets, is a leading provider of credit services to consumers, retailers and auto dealers in 38 countries around the world.
GE Consumer Finance, based in Stamford, Conn. (USA), offers a range of financial products, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home equity loans and credit insurance.
More information can be found online at www.geconsumerfinance.com.
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified services, media and technology company with operations worldwide. More information about GE can be found online at www.ge.com.
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CONTACT: GE Corporate Payment Services
Michael O'Malley, 801-517-5711
Cristy Williams
[email protected]
678.518.2596