CLC Lodging, a division of fleet and corporate payments specialist Fleetcor, has launched a virtual credit card designed for in-trip use by work crews and other business travelers. 

The new CLC Trip Card can be issued instantly to employees’ mobile devices and subsequently loaded onto mobile wallet apps to make contactless payments for expenses incurred on the road, according to the company. Managers can set spending parameters based on time periods, amounts and purchase types and assign job codes to track expenses for specific projects. The Mastercard-branded CLC Trip Card is issued by Comdata.

Ron Rogers, group president of Fleetcor’s lodging division, said the new virtual card is being offered in response to demand from customers for “a simpler way to manage their employees’ per diem expenses [and] minimize reimbursement time and costs, while providing employees with access to funds when they need them on the road.”

Contactless payments at large have gained significant traction during the past year due to hygiene and safety concerns amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with contactless mobile wallets as a channel through which to distribute and use virtual corporate payment cards. 

The new virtual card represents Fleetcor’s latest expansion of payments services under its CLC Lodging brand, which was created when Fleetcor merged two of its subsidiary lodging management specialists—Creative Lodging Solutions and CLC Lodging—under the CLC banner in 2019.