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Bank issuers record modest T&E growth. (Corporate Payment Systems).

Article Excerpt
Despite the overall decrease in corporate travel coupled with on-average lower travel prices, bank issuers on the Visa and MasterCard networks last year saw some growth in travel and entertainment volumes compared with the sluggish market in 2001. However, as the corporate payment sector as a whole has not yet returned to 2000 levels, networks and issuers are tapping into under-penetrated markets and increasing their presence in other such corporate card areas as purchasing to compensate for the limited domestic T&E growth.

"All of the numbers that I have seen, and these are industry numbers, forecasted T&E growth to be 10 percent to 12 percent per annum," said Steve Abrams, MasterCard International senior vice president of corporate payment solutions. "When compared with the 20 percent to 25 percent growth forecasted with the purchasing card, you can see where the opportunity is going to be from that perspective."

While Visa said its overall commercial card volume among card issuers on its platform rose 20 percent in 2002, the network would not break out nor comment on the degree that T&E spend fluctuated last year.

MasterCard indicated a rise in T&E volume last year but could not give specific guidance as to the degree of growth.

"For 2002, we saw some significant business coming from outside of the United States," Abrams said. "That was the first year I think our growth--within our portfolio that incorporates small business, purchasing card, fleet and travel--was stronger outside of the United States than even inside."

As the networks saw an aggregate increase in...

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