As has been documented well overrecent years, purchase volumes for commercial card products have been drivenprimarily through double-digit growth in purchasing cards. Recent studies indicate that trend isexpected to continue and increase even more over the coming years due to enhancedtechnology for cardholder and program controls becoming more prevalent forissuers.
Citing data from the latest RPMGstudy on purchasing (or p-cards), even regional issuers have seen an uptickboth in spend and in customer value created by these capabilities. As noted in the article “Purchasingcards can also help businesses save about $70 per transaction. The savings arerecouped from time and effort in sourcing, purchasing and payment in comparisonto most traditional purchasing processes. Another significant benefit is foundin the payment cycle time – which is reduced, on average, by 8 days.”
It is certainly a positive to continue to see the marketadoption of newer card technologies increase. While the underlying projections bode wellfor the segment, program onboarding and education are still the biggest barriersthat issuers face. The fact that cardand program controls have gotten much better over the past few years and thatthese controls are broadening beyond p-cards speaks to the receptivity of themarket. The challenge will be continuousenhancements to balance controls and ease of use and to enable corporates tomore effectively and efficiently manage their programs and realize the value.
Overview by Rick Hall, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments
Read full article at the Examiner