But the reality is that even though Western is recognized as one of Canada's oldest universities, it's gaining international acclaim as a hub for research and learning in commerce, medicine, science and technology, thanks to an underlying commitment to progress.

Innovation is also seen in how the university manages its finances to control costs, streamline expenses and improve administrative efficiency – especially as the global recession impacts funding from both public and private sources.

Bringing innovation to administration
Recently, the university's purchasing department examined its commercial credit card program to better manage small-dollar purchases, travel and entertainment expenses under $5,000.

With more than 3,500 employees, Western has diverse purchasing needs, ranging from microscopes and lab equipment for researchers, to airline tickets and parking expenses for travelling faculty members. Although the institution had partnered with a U.S. credit card company, employee purchasing was scattered among various card programs, and small-value purchases were still dominated by a complex purchase order process.

"We realized that the right credit card program could become a real efficiency driver for the university," recalls Elizabeth Krische, Director of Purchasing at Western. "With customized, user-friendly technology, we could consolidate our purchasing and achieve cost efficiencies to reduce processing and administration."

Another priority was to enhance accounting capability to satisfy increasing audit and governance requirements. Since academic institutions are accountable to their public and private sector funders, they must maintain comprehensive reporting systems to ensure administrative control and transparency.

A solution built on partnership
Scotiabank has a decades-long bond with Western: as a major donor to the institution and through its banking and credit relationship with the Richard Ivey School of Business. Also, as the primary banker to Western affiliate Huron University College, Scotiabank provides all day-to-day banking and cash management services.

"Our philosophy was to 'keep it simple,' for both busy card holders and administrators," remarks Scotiabank Senior Manager Irene Lauria, who led a team of Commercial Card experts from Scotiabank's Global Transaction Banking team in preparing a response to the Western's request for proposal.

The comprehensive expense management program consolidates low-value purchases into a single VISA* card platform, using the combination of a credit card and an online reporting system.

"Our solution gives Western staff convenient purchasing power, while also helping administrators control costs and manage all their expense data," explains Cameron McPhail, Vice-President and Director of Scotiabank's Commercial Card Sales team.

Located on the picturesque University of Western campus, Middlesex College is home to the university's graduate club, and Applied Mathematics and Computer Science departments.

"Now Western can do everything online – from ordering cards and setting credit limits, to expense reporting and manager approvals. It reduces paperwork and speeds up reconciliation, eliminating internal processes such as inter-department mail delivery around campus," notes McPhail.

Scotiabank also delivered extensive customization, including branding of the website for card holders, and ensuring smooth data transfer from Scotiabank to Western computers, so their electronic records could accommodate reporting and auditing needs.

"We worked closely with Western to ensure every aspect of our solution was delivered against what was promised and that Western benefited from the simplified administration processes and cost efficiencies," remarks Scotiabank Program Manager Laura Boag, who oversaw program implementation, including a pilot test and on-site training for card users and coordinators.

Western's Elizabeth Krische reports that she was very pleased with the Bank's support during the phased launch, and with the performance of the commercial card solution: "We've doubled the number of cards in the past year and quadrupled the dollar value of card purchases per month. We don't use any where near as many purchase orders as we used to, which is cutting down on time spent on paperwork."

Krische is also excited about future program advancements that will be implemented in 2010, which include strategic analysis of card data to study purchasing patterns and negotiate supplier volume discounts.

For those organizations considering an expense management solution, Krische concludes, "Take the time to find the most innovation solution – and the best partner – that can deliver both the customization and cost efficiencies you demand today, while also showing you potential opportunities to take your program to the next strategic level."

* VISA Inc./Lic. user The Bank of Nova Scotia.