Access Bank has entered into a strategic partnership with Visa to launch a new Corporate Credit Card solution designed for medium to large enterprises in Nigeria, marking a significant step toward digitizing corporate expense management and improving working capital efficiency.
The new Access Bank Visa Corporate Credit Card is positioned as both a payments and liquidity management tool, offering organizations up to 45 days of interest-free credit. This feature allows businesses to better manage cash flow, settle supplier obligations early, and optimize their Days Payables Outstanding (DPO) without tying up operational capital.
Addressing Cash Flow and Working Capital Pressures
For many Nigerian businesses, balancing liquidity with operational demands remains a persistent challenge. Access Bank says the new card is intended to give Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and corporate treasurers greater flexibility in managing short-term financing needs, particularly for recurring operational expenses.
By providing an interest-free credit window, the solution enables companies to fund essential expenditures while preserving cash for growth, investment, or unexpected costs—an increasingly important consideration amid rising operational expenses and economic uncertainty.
Digitizing Corporate Expenses
Beyond working capital support, the card introduces a more structured approach to managing operational expenditure (OPEX). It allows businesses to digitise payments for expenses such as employee travel, procurement, fuel, diesel, and office equipment, reducing reliance on cash-based processes that are often difficult to track and audit.
Companies can issue cards to specific employees or departments, creating clearer spending boundaries and accountability across the organisation.
Real-Time Visibility With Visa Spend Clarity
A core component of the solution is its integration with Visa Spend Clarity, a web and mobile platform that provides real-time visibility into corporate spending. The platform records and categorises every transaction made using the corporate card, allowing organisations to track expenses by employee, department, or branch.
This level of transparency is expected to strengthen internal controls, reduce the risk of fraud, and limit practices such as inflated invoices or personal expenses being claimed as business costs. Finance teams also gain access to granular data that can inform budgeting, forecasting, and strategic decision-making.
According to Florence Owuor, Head of Cards Business at Access Bank, the solution is designed to deliver both efficiency and control. She noted that the combination of credit flexibility and real-time expense monitoring enables organisations to optimise cash flow while simplifying financial oversight.
Strengthening Corporate Governance and Efficiency
Visa says the partnership reflects its broader goal of supporting businesses with secure, data-driven payment tools. Andrew Uaboi, Visa’s Vice President and Cluster Head for West Africa, said the solution helps medium and large organisations make smarter financial decisions by combining seamless payments with accountability and insights.
As Nigerian businesses face increasing pressure to improve governance and operational efficiency, tools that offer visibility and control over spending are becoming critical, particularly for organisations operating across multiple locations or business units.
Building Capacity Through Education
To support adoption, Access Bank and Visa plan to host a series of monthly webinars targeted at CFOs and corporate treasurers. These sessions will focus on helping finance leaders understand how to use the card strategically to optimize expense management, improve working capital utilization, and support long-term business growth.
The launch highlights a broader shift within Nigeria’s financial ecosystem toward digitized, data-driven corporate finance tools—signalling how banks and payment providers are responding to the evolving needs of businesses in a digital economy.
