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ServiceMaster® Optimizes Payments and Exterminates Inefficiency with Single-Use Accounts

The ServiceMaster Company has grown from a research laboratory founded in 1927 to a global organization named by FORTUNE magazine in 2006 as one of America's Most Admired Companies. ServiceMaster serves residential and commercial customers through a network of more than 5,000 company-owned location and franchise licenses, and its many brand names include Terminix®, TruGreen®, ServiceMaster Clean® and Merry Maids®.

Challenge

In 2003, ServiceMaster's Terminix business implemented a branch-level One Card program as an alternative to paying its subcontractors by check. In reviewing their processes, program administrators wondered if they could improve on the success they were enjoying with the card and achieve an even higher level of spend control and flexibility — with features like transaction-specific spend limits and controls to help ensure payments are authorized.

Michael Gaffney, ServiceMaster's director of Card Services, recalls, "When we were paying our subcontractors with the purchasing card, we'd give them a credit card number and the expiration date and would have no control over how often they can charge the card or how much they can charge."

Solution

ServiceMaster worked with J.P. Morgan's Expansion Services — a specialized group within the bank's Commercial Card unit — to review the card program and look for ways to increase control while still enjoying the benefits of the card program. Single-Use Accounts turned out to be just the solution ServiceMaster was looking for. Single-Use Accounts enables clients to issue limited-use account numbers to link payments directly to prepurchase information. ServiceMaster uses it to link Terminix subcontractor payments to preapproved claim numbers. This enables them to:

  • Reconcile charges to an approved claim
  • Limit charges to the approved amount
  • Maintain the efficiency of the purchasing card, but with greater control

J.P. Morgan analyzed ServiceMaster's spend and split it into groups to identify opportunities for Single-Use Accounts. Gaffney says, "We were pretty maxed out on our purchasing card, but then we found a lot of areas where we could use Single-Use Accounts." With Single-Use Accounts, no one can request a card number without the proper approval, and the program's enhanced controls help ServiceMaster eliminate duplicate charges. Gaffney says that thanks to Single-Use Accounts, the control is very tight.

Process

When a Terminix subcontractor's work is completed, the Terminix branch approves the subcontractor's claim and requests a Single-Use Accounts account number. The Single-Use Accounts account number is then used for payments made to the subcontractor, linking each transaction to the approved claim number. Single-Use Accounts unique features enable the branch to set limits, track payments more easily and allow the subcontractor to receive faster payments.

Results

Since going live with the program in 2006, ServiceMaster has steadily increased the dollar volume of payments processed using Single-Use Accounts, with more than 95% of the transactions reconciling automatically. With Single-Use Accounts, ServiceMaster and J.P. Morgan were able to develop an automated payment solution that both solved a unique challenge and built the foundation for many future uses within the company's payment systems. With this track record of success, ServiceMaster now hopes to craft similarly successful programs with additional Terminix payment types, as well as within additional ServiceMaster businesses, including American Home Shield Appliances and TruGreen Landcare.

Contact your J.P. Morgan representative to learn more, or visit us at www.jpmorgan.com/commercialcard

Download Case Study:  ServiceMaster® Optimizes Payments and Exterminates Inefficiency with Single-Use Accounts

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