Corporate Travel & Expense Management at First Horizon National Corporation

First Horizon National Corporation’s Corporate Travel & Expense Management solution is a comprehensive, enterprise-grade program designed to streamline business travel, reduce uncontrolled spend, ensure policy compliance, and improve employee experience. Built for modern financial institutions, the program combines best-in-class technology, disciplined governance, and tailored processes to deliver predictable outcomes: better visibility into travel-related spend, faster reconciliation, simplified approvals, and a strong framework for audit and regulatory compliance.

Core Capabilities

The solution integrates the full lifecycle of corporate travel and expense activity into a centralized, easy-to-use platform:

• Policy-driven booking and approvals: Automated travel policy enforcement at the point of booking and reimbursement ensures travelers and approvers follow corporate policy and preferred supplier contracts.
• Integrated booking tools: A modern booking interface supports managed air, hotel, and ground transportation reservations, with access to negotiated rates and preferred vendors.
• Corporate card and payment integration: Seamless import of corporate card transactions and single-use virtual cards for travelers, enabling simplified reconciliation and reduced out-of-pocket expenses.
• Automated expense capture: Receipt capture via mobile apps, OCR, and email forwarding reduces manual entry and accelerates submission and approval cycles.
• Flexible approval workflows: Configurable multi-level routing, delegations, and exception handling align with existing managerial hierarchies and compliance rules.
• Advanced reporting and analytics: Real-time dashboards and custom reports provide actionable insight into spend patterns by department, project, vendor, and traveler cohort.
• Tax, regulatory and audit readiness: Built-in tax handling, audit trails, and exportable records support regulatory compliance and internal controls.

Business Benefits

Implementing the Corporate Travel & Expense Management program delivers tangible benefits across finance, procurement, IT, HR, and the traveling workforce:

• Cost control and savings: Centralized negotiation with suppliers and enforced policy compliance help capture preferred rates and reduce premium bookings.
• Improved process efficiency: Automated approvals, card reconciliation, and expense capture lower administrative burden and shorten reimbursement cycles.
• Greater visibility and forecasting: Consolidated spend data enables accurate forecasting, budget adherence, and more strategic sourcing decisions.
• Risk reduction: Enhanced traveler tracking, policy exceptions management, and consistent documentation support duty-of-care and regulatory obligations.
• Enhanced employee experience: Intuitive tools, mobile access, and streamlined reimbursement processes reduce friction for employees and approvers.

Security, Compliance and Controls

Operating within a regulated banking environment requires robust security and rigorous controls. The program is designed with multi-layered protection and governance:

• Data security and encryption: End-to-end encryption for data in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, and secure authentication methods protect sensitive information.
• Segregation of duties: Workflow rules ensure separation of booking, approval, and payment tasks to maintain strong internal control frameworks.
• Regulatory alignment: Tax handling, expense classification, and record retention meet the standards expected of a national financial institution.
• Auditability: Full traceability of edits, approvals, and policy exceptions creates an audit-ready environment for internal and external reviews.

Integration and Technology

The program integrates with enterprise systems to reduce data silos and enable end-to-end process flow:

• ERP and general ledger integration: Automated posting of expense reports and travel accruals minimizes manual journal entries and supports month-end close.
• HR and directory services: Synchronization with HR systems maintains current traveler profiles, job codes, and approver hierarchies.
• Corporate card issuers and banks: Direct feeds from card providers accelerate reconciliation and minimize mismatches between card charges and expense reports.
• Single sign-on and identity management: Integration with enterprise identity providers delivers secure, frictionless access for employees.

Implementation Approach

A pragmatic, phased deployment minimizes disruption and drives early value:

1. Discovery and design: Assess current travel and expense processes, identify high-impact improvements, and define policy templates and integrations.
2. Pilot and adoption: Roll out to a representative business unit to validate configuration, gather feedback, and refine communications and training.
3. Enterprise deployment: Expand to the broader organization with staged onboarding, supported by training materials and change-management activities.
4. Continuous improvement: Establish governance to review policy effectiveness, supplier performance, and user satisfaction, and to iterate on configurations.

Measurement and KPIs

Success is measured against key performance indicators that matter to finance and operational leaders:

• Average time to reimburse employee expenses
• Percentage of policy-compliant bookings
• Reduction in manual expense corrections and unmatched card transactions
• Spend under management with preferred suppliers
• Time to close month-end travel and expense accounting

Support, Training and Change Management

Achieving high adoption depends on a structured support and enablement program:

• Role-based training: Tailored modules for travelers, approvers, finance staff, and administrators accelerate proficiency.
• Helpdesk and user resources: In-app guidance, knowledge base articles, and responsive support channels reduce roadblocks.
• Executive sponsorship and governance: Ongoing leadership involvement and a cross-functional governance board keep priorities aligned and policies current.

Why this matters for First Horizon National Corporation

For a national financial institution, disciplined travel and expense management is more than an operational improvement — it is a strategic enabler. The program delivers financial discipline, enhances compliance, and provides a better experience for employees who travel and for the teams who manage and account for travel spend. By centralizing control, leveraging technology, and focusing on measurable outcomes, First Horizon National Corporation can realize greater efficiency, reduce risk, and free staff to focus on core business priorities.

The Corporate Travel & Expense Management solution is a pragmatic, secure, and scalable approach designed to support current needs while providing the flexibility to adapt as business requirements evolve. With clear governance, integrated systems, and a user-centric design, the program helps transform travel and expense from a dispersed administrative burden into a controlled, strategic function.

Address Bank: Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Bank: First Horizon National Corporation
Headquarters: Memphis
Products: Payments & Treasury
Type: Corporate Travel & Expense Management