Case Study
How a Leading University Simplified Non-Employee Travel and Reconciliation with graspPAY
Background
Universities manage a wide range of travel needs that extend beyond faculty and staff. From guest lecturers and research collaborators to student groups and athletic teams, non-employee travel plays a critical role in supporting academic and extracurricular programs. However, managing payments for these travelers can be uniquely challenging.
Since non-employees typically don’t have access to institutional credit cards, universities often rely on cumbersome workarounds—like asking travelers to pay out of pocket and submit for reimbursement—which creates administrative overhead, delays, and a poor experience for the traveler.
The Challenge
One major American public university with over 31,000 staff members faced persistent issues with their previous virtual payment provider, primarily around support and functionality:
Lack of North American Customer Support: Their prior solution relied on outsourced, non-North American customer service teams—making timely resolution of urgent issues difficult and frustrating.
Time-Consuming, Error-Prone Reconciliation: Manual processes for matching virtual card charges to travel records led to inefficiencies and increased the risk of errors.
Non-Employee Travel Limitations: Their existing solution didn’t adequately support non-employee travel, requiring individuals to use personal credit cards or go through complex reimbursement procedures. This created friction for both travelers and administrators.
The Solution
To address these challenges, the university implemented graspPAY, a virtual payment solution designed to meet the complex demands of travel management.
With graspPAY, the university gained:
Flexible Payment Options for Non-Employees: The system allows non-employee travelers—such as guest speakers, student groups, and researchers—to be booked on the university’s main credit lines. This eliminated the need for personal credit card use and streamlined the booking experience.
TMC-Friendly Integrations: graspPAY integrates seamlessly with travel agencies and booking tools, making it easy for staff to manage itineraries and issue virtual cards with confidence.
U.S. Based Customer Support: The university now benefits from highly rated support, ensuring faster and more knowledgeable assistance.
Security and Control: With customizable controls and detailed audit trails, graspPAY offers greater visibility into spending while reducing fraud and misuse risk.
The Results
Since adopting graspPAY, the university has experienced significant operational improvements across key areas of travel management:
Improved Support Experience: With graspPAY’s customer service—and backed by top-tier support ratings—the university finally had access to timely, knowledgeable help when needed.
Touchless Non-Employee Travel: Non-employee travelers could now be added to the university’s primary credit lines, eliminating the need for out-of-pocket expenses and streamlining the travel booking process.
Simplified Reconciliation: graspPAY’s intuitive platform dramatically reduced the time and errors associated with manual reconciliation—freeing up resources and improving accounting accuracy.
About graspPAY
graspPAY is a virtual payment solution designed specifically for corporates, colleges/universities, TMCs, and CTDs that need a secure, scalable, and automated way to manage hotel and travel-related payments. With graspPAY, users can issue single-use, merchant-restricted virtual cards that reduce fraud, eliminate reconciliation headaches, and support both employee and non-employee travel. Seamlessly integrated with GDS and online booking tools, graspPAY ensures accurate data capture, real-time controls, and full visibility into travel spend—empowering finance and travel teams to streamline workflows, stay compliant with corporate policies, and improve the traveler experience.
Download our PDF infographic on how graspPAY addresses non-employee travel
