Queen’s University has introduced a new travel credit card (TCard) program through Scotiabank that provides employees and departments more flexibility in paying for expenses when traveling on behalf of the university. This new program replaces the previous American Express (AMEX) Corporate Program.

With the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, travel has been limited to essential purposes only,  providing an opportunity to introduce the TCard program and be ready for when travel is once again allowed. The launch of the program is in no way an endorsement of non-essential travel during this pandemic.

“The introduction of the Scotiabank TCard program will make the travel process more efficient while providing additional benefits and financial savings to departments and research budgets” says Nicole Fowler, Associate Director, Procurement Operations, Strategic Procurement Services.  Features of the new TCard program include:

• Queen’s pays directly to the card provider on behalf of the cardholder, any travel expenses charged to the TCard that are submitted and approved through an expense claim processed in the Employee Reimbursement System (ERS);
• Collision/Loss Damage Waiver (CDW / LDW) insurance for rental vehicles while travelling for business purposes;
• Additional coverage for travelers, including international concierge service, insurance for flight delay, emergency purchases, lost luggage, and travel accident insurance;
• Synchronization with the Employee Reimbursement System (ERS) for ease of submitting reimbursement claims; and
• Travelers are permitted to submitted multiple claims for one trip, if advance paying for airfare, transportation, etc.

As the TCard program will significantly reduce the need for travel advances, corresponding changes have been made to the Cash Advance procedure of the Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy.   Moving forward, cash advances will only be available for expenditures that cannot be processed on a TCard.

Applications for Travel Credit Cards are now being accepted via acQuire. Complete the application found in Credit Card Forms. Weekly training sessions are being held for cardholders – information can be found on the SPS website.

Full details regarding the new TCard policy and procedure can be found on the SPS website.

Questions regarding the new TCard program can be sent to creditcards@queensu.ca.