U.S. Bank next year will begin issuing corporate T&E
cards in Europe for companies that have operations in the region.
Jeff Rankin, the bank's senior vice president and senior
sales and marketing officer for the corporate payment systems unit, told Business Travel News on Tuesday that
U.S. Bank plans to issue cards in Europe by the middle of 2011, perhaps
earlier, via a banking subsidiary that handles merchant processing. Companies
with European operations then would be able to manage their U.S. and European
card programs through a single contract, credit approval process and reporting
system, he said.
"U.S. Bank is all about building deeper relationships
with our banking customers, and one item customers have told us is that when we
do card programs for them in the U.S., they would like us to do them
globally," Rankin said.
In the past several years, U.S. Bank has handled corporate
T&E card needs in Europe through joint partnership agreements with several
banks across Europe. Rankin said those partnerships will continue to be an
option for corporate programs even when U.S. Bank begins to issue cards
directly.
"Our focus will be on direct issuance, but we'll also
have those if they're the best fit for our customers," he said.
"There still may be some countries that we're not going to be a direct
issuer in, and we might also find that some of those companies like having
those joint partnerships, so we're not terminating those relationships."