Global travel payment network Universal Air Travel Plan, a centrally billed payment processor for air transactions, expects 2007 to have been another record year, with $1 billion in business travel sales reported in October 2007 alone. At last report, released in December, UATP was on track to record more than $10 billion in charge volume in 2007, marking continual growth since 2003, when volume was at $6.9 billion. "Each area of UATP's worldwide network has had significant growth: Asia/Pacific; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the Americas," UATP president and CEO Ralph Kaiser said. The network attributed customer growth to new relations with airlines and travel agencies as merchants as well as new payment options. In December, UATP announced a partnership with HomeATM EPayment Solutions for online debit card processing abilities. UATP this month also announced an agreement for Mumbai-based Kingfisher Airlines to join its merchant network. "We are actively expanding our corporate client base, and accepting UATP is a natural course of action to offer corporate clients their preferred form of payment to gain market share," Kingfisher chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya said. UATP this month also added China-based Hainan Airlines and Shandong Airlines as vendors.
Visa Marches Toward IPOVisa Inc. is expected officially to go public in the coming months, becoming the second major payment network to have an initial public offering in recent years. Visa in November announced its filing of a registration statement for the IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The $10 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange is expected to be launched sometime between February and May. Visa already has restructured its company through a series of mergers to bring all its international units, with the exception of Visa Europe, into a single company
(BTN, Oct. 23, 2006). Competitor MasterCard Worldwide conducted its IPO in 2006
(BTN, June 5, 2006).Amex, First Data Pact To Broaden Card AcceptanceAmerican Express has signed an agreement with electronic commerce and payment services provider First Data Corp. that will create a new payment-processing program available to small and midsize merchants by the second quarter of this year. The agreement, announced in December, calls for First Data to provide services for merchants' Amex transactions with single-source statements, settlement and customer service for all card brands. "Consumers will enjoy the convenience of being able to use the American Express Card at even more locations," according to Kim Goodman, American Express' executive vice president of merchant services in North America.
Citi Names New CEOFinancial services company Citi, a major issuer of corporate travel and expense cards, has named Vikram Pandit, a Citi executive who had previously worked in several senior positions at Morgan Stanley, as the company's new CEO. Pandit in December replaced interim CEO Win Bischoff, who took over following the ouster of CEO Charles Prince. Bischoff, meanwhile, has taken over as the chairman of Citi's board of directors. "Simplifying the company's organizational structure and aligning our businesses and resources with appropriate goals and economic realities will be among our initial priorities," Pandit said.