Corporate cards save you time and reap hefty rebates for the company. So why do so few travelers comply?

The answer: Airline miles — and hotel points, cash back offers, or any number of other perks offered by the employees’ personal credit card issuers.

With the average business trip costing somewhere in the $1,500 range, even a modest rebate can be an attractive “bonus” to employees who are feeling the pinch of this economy. In fact, 74% of employees admitted they don’t always use their company’s preferred method of payment because of the perks they get from their personal cards.

Another 21% said they either never received a card, or the card isn’t accepted in some of the places they travel. That’s according to a recent survey by T&E magazine.

To get road warriors to use company-issued cards, you have two options: The carrot or the stick:

1. If possible, incentivize travelers to use the cards. For example, you might get upper management to agree to kick a percentage of the cards’ rebates back to employees as profit sharing, or as a bump in their departmental budgets. If that’s not an option, an internal competition to see which department can set the highest bar for card compliance might help.
2. If incentives don’t work, penalties might. Even a mild step, like flagging a department for non-compliance can send the message that the practice have to end. Key: Upper management has to demonstrate they’re behind your efforts, so make sure they’re on board first.

What have you tried to get more travelers to use company-issued credit and travel cards? Let us know in the comments what has — or hasn’t — worked for you.

Tags: Best practices, Cost cutting, Employee communication, Purchasing cards, T&E, Travel cards