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Visa, MasterCard focus on data demand.

Article Excerpt
MasterCard International, Visa U.S.A. and their bank issuers said they were focusing on meeting client demands for improved data management and global capabilities as travel and entertainment card volumes continued an upward trend in 2005.

Citibank reported that 2005 brought a 28 percent surge in total dollars charged on its corporate T&E accounts compared with 2004 and about a 19 percent increase on the number of cards it issued. Other issuers saw a less dramatic rise, such as U.S. Bank, which saw only a 4 percent increase in T&E card volume, and GE Capital, which saw volume remain mostly flat.

Issuers said any increase could not solely be attributed to an increase in corporate travel, although that is a part of the equation. "There's a little bit of a boost," said Chris Pieroth, global head of commercial cards with Citibank. "There might be a little bit of a loosening of travel restrictions in corporations, but most of it is the result of the cost of travel going up."

The year also was a period during which travel managers found greater success in getting their companies' employees to utilize their corporate card programs.

"The one other element is increased penetration," said Marcie Verdin, vice president of the large-market segment for corporate payment solutions at MasterCard. "It's a combination of mandates, of higher cost and more frequent travel. The biggest trend, at least that we're responding to, is the need to drive mandates, driving more value from the card information."

Visa senior vice president of commercial solutions David Cramer reported a similar trend....

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