GLOBAL ACCESS
Emerging markets
The use of corporate cards in developing economies is growing, and with that comes a whole new set of challenges. Amon Cohen reports
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
EASTERN EUROPE Card companies say they have experienced major growth in commercial payments in Eastern Europe over the past couple of years. Visa cites Poland and Romania as strong performers, but the pick of its bunch is Turkey. “We had 40-50 per cent growth in Turkey in 2012,” says Visa Europe’s David Harrison. “It will be the first country to challenge the current big five in
28 • Buying Business Travel 2013
Europe: the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.” For Bank of America Merrill
Lynch, the major expansion in recent months has been in Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Names like Romania and Bulgaria may be surprising, given that their economic development has lagged other Eastern European neighbours, but Helen Mason, director, senior commercial card product manager,
EMEA, for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, says their recent accession to the EU is driving a rapid growth in business. “Multinational companies see them as new markets to sell in and they are also attractive as a source of low-cost labour for ‘offshoring’,” says Mason. American Express singles out yet another market as its star performer in the region. “Russia is becoming a fast card adopter,” says Amex’s
Alan Gillies. “There has been a lot of interest in the past year in our lodge card product. The culture remains one of controlling high-value items on a centralised basis.” Russia needs to go through a cultural change of handing empowerment to the individual before plastic corporate cards for employees take off in a similar way, Gillies believes. Mason agrees that lodge is
proving a popular option in Eastern Europe. “Companies can keep the average limit on employees’ corporate cards down by pushing
In association with
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