MasterCard to Introduce inControl Corporate Card
New Credit Card Technology Can Tight Spending.
Credit cards are getting smarter with the new Web-based interface developed by Orbiscom, a Dublin-based payments technology firm, your boss can set an overall spending limit for an individual employee with a specified business trip. This new technology can even pre-set which restaurant you can have dinner with your clients and even which hotel you can stay. Sounds amazing! But it’s true.
According to the report by Aili McConnon at BusinessWeek, MasterCard is about to introduce the inControl card for corporate clients, which will allow the boss to limit how, where and when employees use a company card on business trips. Aili also indicated that:”In partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland, the credit-card giant is launching a corporate card that allows companies to set strict parameters on which restaurants, bars, and hotels their employees can patronize.”
What does this new technology can do?
A supervisor can set an overall spending limit for an individual employee or an entire staff category, as well as compile a list of approved hotels and restaurants (Pret A Manger, O.K.; Chez Panisse, not). They can also choose to have charges declined after a certain hour or at questionable establishments. Micromanagers will thrill at a feature that allows them to receive real-time updates on their employees’ spending via e-mail or text message.
I believe this new technology can dramatically reduce the business spendings for every business entity. This new technology can also help MasterCard beat Visa and American Express and grab a bigger slice of the corporate-card market. (Corporate/business card is most profitable to credit card issuers and credit card networks.)
Another benefit from this new technique is to minimize the loss from identity theft. Even the theft can get the credit card, he/she can still can’t use it. Because this card can only be used at certain places as pre-determined. This should be a big loss for those identity thefts. 
Other potential benefiters of this new technology are parents of college students. This technology can allow parents to control how their college student offspring are using credit cards with specific industry codes.
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Mastercard’s (ORBISCOM) InControl infringes on an existing patent. Mastercard is fully aware of this patent’s existence.
InControl / ORBIS’ patents : 7571142, 7567934, 7433845, 7136835, 6636833 cannot claim the setting of the ACTUAL card account limits. In fact, all of these patents refer to temporary and limited use virtual numbers which can be controlled. Corporate cards are not virtual card numbers since physical cards are issued and used by employees.
This patent, filed February 2001, patent granted August 2005 with worldwide PCTs, (USPTO) 6931382 enables cardholders (or banks or account administrators ) to turn on or turn off their actual debit and credit cards. This system also enables the setting of different limits such as but not limited to amount, geographical limits, time period, etc.
CardSwitch Technology Ltd. (www.cardswitchtechnology.com) offers this patented system.
Registered letters have been sent to Mastercard executives concerning this patent infringement.