Business Continuity Plans

As your organization develops business continuity plans (BCPs)—also known as disaster recovery plans—make Commercial Cards part of the purchase-to-pay strategy and include the card program manager in the planning process. The content below, including quick tips at the end of the page, explains more.

Related Resources

Why Incorporate Cards?

Responding to a disaster usually requires non-typical purchases at all hours. Commercial Cards are a good fit, as you might not be able to complete a check or ACH payment process. Cards offer convenience, especially for the in-person purchases that often occur, and more flexibility than other payment methods. You can adjust card spend limits in real-time and the reporting tools related to card usage help you track purchasing activity.

What are Your Needs?

Planning Ahead

Conduct needs assessments for different types of disasters (e.g., severe weather, a building fire, terrorist activity, a pandemic) to determine how your organization would be affected. Following are some key questions.

Would it be business as usual for all employees or would you close for any length of time? Would you utilize a contingency site, if applicable? Will employees work from home?
What would your organization need to purchase? Consider products and services, anticipated quantities and costs.
Which vendor(s) would be able to meet your anticipated needs? Is it possible to set up related contracts now?
Who would be responsible for buying what is needed? Do they have a card today? Will you need any “emergency cards?”
What will you need to do concerning card spend limits and MCC restrictions? Identify appropriate card profiles to accommodate the potential purchases. You will likely need to loosen the restrictions, as well as consider allowing a cash withdrawal option. However, there could be cases in which you want to increase restrictions; for example, blocking travel-related MCCs if no one should be traveling.
What will be the purchasing process? Ideally, you want to avoid having your buyers stand in long lines with citizens buying the same items.

Conduct needs assessments, focusing on different disaster types and your card-related needs for each.

Post-disaster Evaluation

Every crisis produces lessons learned. As your organization transitions back to normal or a “new normal,” it is valuable to document what worked well and what should be improved before the next disaster strikes. Learn more… Use the evaluation to refine the previously documented needs assessments.

Working with Your Card Issuer

It's critical to work with your issuer before a disaster strikes.

Communicate your needs for various disaster scenarios: who will need cards, what the card profiles should be, anticipated purchases, etc.
Obtain their feedback, including who your organization should contact to implement emergency plans as quickly as possible.
Design and document the plan.

See more tips on working with your card issuer on these plans. In addition, post-disaster, share the refined plans.

Internal Communications

Every department/business unit needs to be aware and informed of the plan. Someone should ensure no duplication of efforts between the organization's plan and any plans developed by individual business units. All cardholders need appropriate direction about who will be involved with purchases related to recovery efforts. As a best practice, require annual emergency preparedness training for management, cardholders and other key employees (procurement, AP, finance, etc.). Also, do not overlook the value of testing your plans and conducting drills.

Ongoing Plan Management

Once a disaster plan is complete, it should not be filed away to collect dust. Accessibility is important; employees should keep a copy at home. Your organization should also update it regularly to ensure the list of employees, cardholders, and suppliers (and their contact information) is current.

Quick Tips

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