Admin

In the November 2019 release notes, the Connected List Data Type Now Available for Expense Attendee Form release note was accidentally published before the official release of this new functionality, which is currently targeted for a future release.

The connected list data type functionality is part of the planned future direction of the product that is currently on our longer-range roadmap. More information will be published about this functionality when the entire feature is ready to be officially released.

This connected list functionality will not be universally supported for attendee records, and will only be available for very specific use cases for employee attendees (SYSEMP).

Authentication

SAP Concur will soon begin the deprecation process of removing Hash-Based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) as an SSO option. The replacement service for HMAC is SAML SSO, a self-service method of setup whereby client admins have access within SAP Concur to complete their SAML connections.

Clients currently using HMAC are encouraged to migrate to the SSO self-service tool as soon as it is released (targeted for Q1 2020). The new SSO self-service tool allows multiple portals (Identity Providers) to be added.

The HMAC deprecation includes two phases:

PHASE I:

• Clients need to have an Identity Provider (IdP) or a custom SAML 2.0 solution.

• Clients begin testing the new SSO self-service tool.

• Clients prepare for onboarding new clients using the new SSO self-service tool, which is targeted for release in Q1 2020.

• Once the SSO tool is available, customers will be notified via release notes about the official deprecation date of HMAC. As of the official deprecation date, no new clients can be onboarded using HMAC; new clients must be onboarded using the new SSO self-service tool.

• Existing clients using HMAC need to be migrated using the new SSO self-service tool.

PHASE II:

• Clients continue migrating existing HMAC clients to the new SSO self-service tool.

• Shut down the HMAC service after everyone has migrated from HMAC to the new SSO self-service tool. Phase II is targeted to end mid-year 2020.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change provides better security and improved support for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services.

Cards

With the new Amex Virtual Card solution, transaction payment data can now be imported into the GL 1025 American Express card feed along with financial transaction data. Previously, transaction data would have been entered manually.

Regional Considerations

This feature is available to new and existing clients in the United States and Australia, and those who have configurations in these two countries.

Requirements

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change streamlines the card transactional data import and reduces errors associated with manual data input.

For clients who use Visa card feeds with Visa Commercial Format (VCF) 4.0 and 4.4 formats, SAP Concur enhanced the matching functionality for hotel and car rental transactions. With this change, all existing and new configurations for Employee ID from Passenger-Specific Data automatically extend to also check hotel and car rental data, depending on the type of transaction.

To reflect this change in functionality, the field on the Configure Field Labels for Lodge Account page was renamed. The Employee ID from Passenger-Specific Data field was renamed Employee ID from Passenger-Specific or Car Rental or Hotel-Specific Data.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change facilitates fewer orphaned lodge transactions that require manual employee assignment by a company card administrator.

All card transactions, including those with inactive expense types, will now automatically be added to the Company Bill Statement (CBS) report. This change includes expense types that are not active for a policy.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change helps improve statement-based card programmes by ensuring that all card transactions are automatically assigned to the Company Bill Statement report.

E-Receipts

As described in the September 2019 version of these release notes, Uber planned on deprecating an older connection method, called SMTP or "Receipt Images via Email". On 29 January, 2020, Uber and Concur Expense deprecated this connection method.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: Uber recently updated their Concur Expense integration to the more robust SAP Concur Receipts v4 API. With expanded availability and benefits via the App Centre integration, the secondary "Receipt Images via Email" connection was discontinued.

File Transfer Updates

This Release Note is intended for the technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur. For our customers and suppliers participating in data exchange through various secure file transfer protocols, SAP Concur is making changes that provide greater security for those file transfers.

Beginning 24 February, 2020 at 2 PM PST, connections via the HTTPS protocol will no longer be allowed when connecting to the SAP Concur file transfer system.

• Existing HTTPS file transfer accounts must switch to SFTP with SSH Key Authentication before 24 February, 2020.

This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:

• st.concursolutions.com

• st-eu.concursolutions.com

• st-cge.concursolutions.com

• st-cge-dr.concursolutions.com

• vs.concursolutions.com

• vs.concurcdc.cn

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes provide greater security for file transfers.

This release note is intended for technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur. For our customers and suppliers participating in data exchange through various secure file transfer protocols, SAP Concur has made changes that provide greater security for those file transfers.

TLS 1.1 (Transport Layer Security) SSL protocol has been removed from our SAP Concur file transfer system allowed list.

• This relates to the FTPS and HTTPS file transfer protocols.

• The HTTPS file transfer protocol will not be allowed, starting 24 February, 2020. If you are currently using HTTPS, we suggest migrating to SFTP with key authentication.

  For more information, refer to the HTTPS Protocol No Longer Allowed for File Transfer (24 Feb, 2020) release note in this document.

This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:

• st.concursolutions.com

• st-eu.concursolutions.com

• st-cge.concursolutions.com

• st-cge-dr.concursolutions.com

• vs.concursolutions.com

• vs.concurcdc.cn

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes provide greater security for file transfers.

Next Generation (NextGen) Expense

Update: In order to respond to and take advantage of feedback from customers, and to align with SAP Concur’s commitment to ensure a smooth and successful transition, we are working on a revised deployment strategy for Next Generation Expense.

SAP Concur is dedicated to the consistent improvement of our products, not only the features they provide, but also the experience of using those features. How users interact with technology changes over time, along with needs and expectations. We are constantly listening to our customers and soliciting feedback on how we can improve the user experience.

NextGen Expense is the continued evolution of the SAP Concur user experience. It was built from extensive user research and data analytics that include 680 1:1 conversations, 58 usability studies, 3,000+ survey responses and 1.3B monthly user actions.

Customers will have the ability to preview and then opt in to NextGen Expense before the mandatory cutover.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The result is the next generation of the Expense user interface designed to provide a modern, consistent and streamlined user experience. This technology not only provides an enhanced UI, but also allows SAP Concur to react more quickly to customer requests to meet changing needs as they happen.

Quick Expense

Effective 31 March 2020, the Quick Expense v1 and Quick Expense v3 APIs will be retired and decommissioned. We encourage all current users to migrate to Quick Expense v4 as soon as possible.

Please refer to the deprecation policy for definitions and additional information.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This update removes two outdated APIs.

Security Enhancements

Customers could use the Printed Report (or Printed Invoice) feature to configure and customise their own expense claims, invoices and requests that were emailed, displayed online or printed. Customers could also add graphics (generally logos).

As of 31 January, 2020 – in order to meet security requirements – SAP Concur no longer supports graphics of any sort in expense claims, invoices and requests that are configured using the Printed Claim (or Printed Invoice) feature.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change provides greater security for SAP Concur customers.

SAP Concur is announcing an end-of-support cycle for version 1.1 of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption protocol, while continuing support for the more secure version 1.2 of TLS. As background, the TLS protocol allows secure back and forth communications between a phone or computer and a cloud-based service.

Refusal of TLS v.1.1 connections will commence on 20 February, 2020.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: SAP Concur is taking this step after careful consideration of our customers’ security and ease of upgrade to the newer, more secure version 1.2 of TLS. This end-of-support plan for TLS v 1.1 ensures our clients are communicating with SAP Concur solutions in a safer and more secure manner using TLS v 1.2.

Workflow

During the last calendar week in February, email notifications for "Expense Claim Status Change" emails will include a link directly to the relevant expense claim for users who are already logged in.

Users who are not already logged in will be directed to the SAP Concur login page.

The contents of the email will not change. Only the destination of the View Claim button will be updated.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change is an added convenience for end users.