How It Works

The Expense touchpoint closes the behavioral feedback loop that makes Catalyst's guidance system progressively more effective. When a traveler submits an expense report in Concur, Catalyst evaluates their recent booking decisions and delivers post-trip reinforcement messaging.

This touchpoint serves three purposes. First, positive reinforcement — acknowledging good decisions. If a traveler booked a preferred hotel, stayed under rate target, or chose a lower-carbon flight option, the expense touchpoint delivers a tile that says so explicitly. Research in behavioral economics shows that immediate positive feedback after a desired action significantly increases the likelihood of repeating that action. Even though expense submission isn't truly "immediate," it's the next natural moment the traveler interacts with the travel system after their trip.

Second, pattern-based insights. Over multiple trips, Catalyst tracks trends and can surface them at expense time: "Your average hotel spend has decreased 12% this quarter" or "You've chosen preferred carriers on 4 of your last 5 trips." These aggregate insights reinforce the traveler's sense of progress and participation.

Third, educational content. The expense moment is a good time to introduce information the traveler can use on their next trip — new hotel program additions, upcoming policy changes, or features they haven't used yet. Because they've just completed a trip, the content feels relevant rather than abstract.

The expense touchpoint doesn't need to be high-intensity — one well-chosen tile per expense submission is often more effective than multiple messages. The Smart Prioritization Engine selects the single most impactful message based on what actually happened on the trip.