Decision Rule Management

While using a prepaid card you have control over how much is spent, and when. The funds are stored in the card and there's no need to think about a credit card bill or use a debit card that should be used in more difficult or unexpected situations. In addition, it is possible to use a decision control system that enables the prepaid card business owner to quickly scrutinize purchases made with this prepaid card. The decision control system is effective when it allows to define purchase rules in a simple and fast way.

Softjourn recently completed a proof of concept that allows managers to easily create or modify decision rules that govern their employees' spending.

Background

While using a prepaid card you have control over how much is spent, and when. The funds are stored in the card and there's no need to think about a credit card bill or use a debit card that should be used in more difficult or unexpected situations. In addition, it is possible to use a decision control system that enables the prepaid card business owner to quickly scrutinize purchases made with this prepaid card. The decision control system is effective when it allows to define purchase rules in a simple and fast way.

The Need

With on-demand services, there is always the need to control employee spending. Companies that run concierge operations, for example, must keep a handle on purchase locations, purchase timeframes, and pricing. Managers are typically tasked with helping to ensure that employees don't use prepaid cards to spend more than what they are authorized for or make unapproved purchases. When company policies change, managers must call on software developers to create or modify decision rules, a frequently time-consuming and expensive process.

The Solution

In response to the need for an easily implemented decision rule management solution, the Softjourn team developed a standalone tool using the Roslyn API library. Essentially, chunks of programming code have been created, compiled and run in real-time and do not need to be deployed or rebuilt. Managers can create decision rules that control transaction limits, transaction timeframes, merchants used and other critical variables.

Consider this scenario

A car wash concierge service wants to ensure that its fulfillers are using an approved car wash and paying the right price. With the new Softjourn tool, a manager creates rules that control the entire process, from taking a client's order to paying for services.

Let's say a manager specifies a range of calendar days of operation—Monday through Saturday—and then a list of approved car washes, based on location, and sets a transaction limit of $60. During the time of year when snow and chemicals are on the roads, wash prices go up. The new tool allows him to modify this rule on the spot to take that increase into account. He can also create different rules for different fulfillers as well as a rule that "fails" an entire transaction if certain conditions are not met. For example, a fulfiller takes a client's car to Car Wash D, which is outside a preset geographical boundary, and attempts to pay with his prepaid card. The rules limit this fulfiller to Car Wash A, B or C, so the transaction is denied. When the fulfiller takes the car to any of these other car washes, the transaction goes through with no problem.

How the Softjourn Solution Works

When a fulfiller initiates a transaction, the Softjourn management tool checks to see if the transaction complies with the configured rules. The tool then sends back a webhook that indicates whether the transaction is approved or declined.