Card on File in Vendor Pay: A Step-by-Step Guide

Modified on Thu, Mar 5 at 5:18 PM

Card on File Payment Method

Card on File introduces a streamlined payment method for vendors, making recurring and automatic charges simple and secure. Whether you're handling utility payments, software subscriptions, or one-time bills, this feature automates card management between you and your suppliers through the vendor portal.

Let’s walk through how Card on File works, how to set it up, and how to manage payments and issues.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction to Card on File
2. Getting Started
3. Card Lifecycle Management
4. Managing Credit Limits
5. Generating and Placing Cards on File
6. Reconciling and Managing Transactions
7. Viewing, Editing, and Troubleshooting
8. How to Release for Scheduling
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Introduction to Card on File

Card on File offers a simple, secure way for vendors to process recurring or automatic charges. It automates card management between you and suppliers in the vendor portal, whether for utilities, subscriptions, or one-time bills.

Value & Use Cases Card on File is especially useful for:

Recurring payments: (e.g., monthly utilities, subscriptions).
Location-specific charges: Vendors supporting child cards for specific locations.
Reducing manual intervention: Minimizes the need for manual payment runs.
Pre-payment scenarios: For vendors like Webstaurant, who must be paid in advance.

Unlike vCards, which require manual payment initiation, Card on File enables vendors to process payments on pre-authorized cards. Ottimate then pulls the funds from your bank account after transactions are posted.

2. Getting Started

To begin, navigate to the Card on File tab within Vendor Pay. The Vendors tab lists suppliers confirmed as Card on File acceptors, ensuring no processing fees are applied to these payments. If you identify a vendor who accepts CoF but is not listed, you can contact support@ottimate.com with the vendor’s name and contact details for verification.

You may create cards for vendors not on our confirmed list. In this case, directly ask the vendor about any card processing fees before setup. This helps you understand payment terms and avoid unnecessary fees.

Getting Started with CoF - Watch Video

3. Card Lifecycle Management

Card Creations

You have two options to create a card: you can create it from the Vendors tab next to a specific vendor, or from the Add New Card on File header button at the top, where you can select any vendor who is not already on the list as well. You must determine if the card should cover all company locations or a single specific location based on your supplier’s portal capabilities. For location-specific cards, the associated bank account is automatically selected; for company-wide cards, the bank account must be selected manually. After setting a Monthly Spend Limit and entering the card’s purpose, the request is submitted for review.

Note on Transaction Matching: If an unlisted vendor adds a processing fee, the transaction and invoice amounts won’t match, requiring you to manually create a separate invoice for the fee to reconcile. To avoid this, we recommend contacting support@ottimate.com to verify a vendor’s terms before adding them.

Option 1: Card Request Creation - Watch Video
Option 2:

Card Requests & Approvals

Users with Create Payments permission initiate payment submissions. Admins review these requests from the approval queue. If the requested card amount exceeds the daily account limit, the approval button appears greyed out. In this case, the Admin must increase the account credit limit before the request can be approved. If the limit is not increased, Admins can still reject the request directly from the queue, even if it exceeds the limit.

Approving and Denying Card Requests - Watch Video

4. Managing Credit Limits

Vendor Pay extends a daily credit line for Card on File transactions, similar to a credit card with one-day terms.

Check Progress: Check your account’s credit limit, outstanding card charges, and available credit from the account overview.
Limit Restrictions: You cannot create or approve an individual card with a monthly limit that exceeds your total daily account limit. This restriction exists to ensure the daily credit line can technically support the potential spend of any single card.
You can have several cards with combined monthly limits that exceed your daily account limit. This works because not all cards are used on the same day. If total card transactions exceed the daily limit, later charges are declined.
Increase Limit: To increase your credit limit, enter the new requested amount and submit for Ottimate’s review.
Next Steps: Once approved, proceed to generate new card requests as needed.

Increasing Account Credit Limit - Watch Video *

5. Generating and Placing Cards on File

Step 1: After requesting approval, click Generate Card to create your card; the details will open in a new tab titled “Card Details.”
Step 2: View and copy the card details to lodge in your supplier's portal. In this view, all card transactions appear below the credentials, letting the user verify activity.

NOTE: For enhanced security, full card details are visible only to the individual who initiated the card request and authorized Admin users. These sensitive credentials are restricted from all other users within the platform.

Generating a Card to place the Card on Vendor Portal - Watch Video *

Step 3: If your supplier doesn’t accept the first card type, use the Recreate Card to generate a new card with a different configuration.

Recreating a Card - Watch Video

Step 4: If all card attempts fail, select Mark Unable to Lodge so invoices revert to regular payment methods (ACH, vCard, check run).

Mark Unable to Lodge Option - Watch Video

6. Reconciling and Managing Transactions

All transactions processed via CoF (Card on File) appear in the system immediately after the charge occurs. If an approved invoice already exists for the specific vendor and location combination for which the card was created, VendorPay will automatch the transaction instantly. The user then reviews the match in the Auto Match tab and approves the transaction to create a payment (checkrun), which is then moved to the Pending Export tab.

If a matching invoice is unavailable, the transaction stays in the Needs Matching tab. When the corresponding invoice is created and approved, automatch moves the transaction forward. For transactions covering multiple invoices, ensure all relevant invoices are approved before manually matching them in Needs Matching. This tab also lets users create missing invoices directly. Automatically matched invoices require final approval before moving to export, but manually matched invoices skip further review—once users select and confirm the correct invoices, the transaction goes straight to the Pending Export tab, ready for ERP integration.

Feature	Auto Match	Needs Matching
Trigger	Approved invoice exists for vendor + location.	User links transaction to approved invoice(s) or creates invoices if not present
Action Required	Review and Approve the transaction.	Select invoices and click Match Invoice.
Final Result	Post Approval, a checkrun is created and moved to Pending Export.	Lands directly in Pending Export upon manually matching invoice by also creating a checkrun.

Auto-Match Tab

Needs Attention Tab

7. Viewing, Editing, and Troubleshooting

The Cards tab is the command center for all Card on File activity. Visibility depends on your location and company access. Use this dashboard to monitor every card's health and status. Key management options include:

Permanently Close Card: Use this for vendors you no longer work with or for cards that have been compromised. Once closed, the card cannot be reopened.
Put Card on Hold: This is a temporary measure that pauses the card's ability to be charged without deleting the card details. It is ideal for resolving billing disputes or pausing subscriptions.
Increase Monthly Limit: If a vendor’s monthly billing exceeds the current card limit, you can request an increase here. Note that this is subject to your daily account credit limit.
Recreate Card: If a card is declined during the initial lodging process in a vendor portal, this option allows you to generate a new card number with a different configuration to resolve compatibility issues.

Close Card, Card on Hold, Increase Monthly Limit, Recreate Card - Watch Video *

8. How to Release for Scheduling

If a card transaction fails—for example, due to an expired card, a temporary hold, or a limit issue—the invoice must be handled manually to avoid service interruptions. To resolve this, navigate to the Failed Transactions section and select Release for Scheduling.
By selecting this option, the system updates the payment method for the failed invoice in the Unpaid Invoices queue to the prior method (check/ACH/vCard). This "unlinks" the invoice from the failed Card on File attempt, making it available for processing via ACH, vCard, or Check, ensuring vendors are paid on time through traditional methods if automation fails.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Why is my "Approve" button greyed out in the card request queue? A: This happens when the requested card limit exceeds your available Daily Account Credit Limit. You must either decrease the card's limit or request a credit limit increase for your overall account (see Section 4) before the request can be approved.

Q: Can I use one card for all my locations? A: A card can be created at the Company level (by selecting all locations within that company) or at a particular Location. However, you cannot create one single card for your entire Ottimate account, nor can you create a card that spans different locations across different companies. The system follows a strict hierarchy: Account > Company > Location. Always verify your vendor’s portal requirements first, as many utility and food vendors require "Location Specific" cards.

Q: Why didn't my transaction auto-match even though the invoice is in the system? A: Auto-matching only triggers if the invoice is in the Approved status. If the invoice is still "Pending Approval," the transaction will sit in the Needs Matching tab. Once the invoice is approved, the system will attempt to match it.

Q: What happens if a vendor charges a "Processing Fee" that isn't on the invoice? A: The transaction will move to the Needs Matching tab because the dollar amount does not match the invoice. While you can view the invoices in this tab, you will still need to manually reconcile the transaction by creating a separate invoice for the processing fee. To avoid this, we recommend using the vendors listed in the Card on File section, as they are confirmed acceptors with no processing fees. For other vendors that impose a processing fee, Ottimate will not be liable for the cost.

Q: I can't see the card details for a card my colleague created. Why? A: For security reasons, card numbers and CVVs are only visible to the original creator of the card and Account Admins. If you are neither, you will see the card exists, but you cannot view the sensitive payment credentials.

Q: Do these cards have an expiration date? A: Yes, each card generated through VendorPay includes a standard expiration date, similar to a physical credit card. You can view the month and year of expiration within the Card Details tab after the card is generated.

Q: When does a card’s monthly spend limit reset? A: All card limits reset automatically on the 1st of every month. This reset is based on the calendar month, ensuring your monthly budget is refreshed and ready for new billing cycles.