Co. Increasing Card Options

<B>Co. Increasing Card Options</B>

By Cheryl Rosen

Paymentech is expanding its corporate card services through three new initiatives: linking with banks in Canada so corporate customers can offer the same platform to travelers north and south of the border; piloting a hotel folio data program; and ratcheting up its purchasing card program.

For 2000, president David Cramer expects big growth in the one-card arena, as corporations see the advantage of consolidating their purchasing with a single piece of plastic for everything from T&E to office supplies and temporary staffing. Between 15 percent and 20 percent of current customers already have a one-card program, Cramer said, and fully 80 percent of all RFPs that come in for T&E cards ask about one-card options.

But the biggest change clearly will be toward more integration with e-commerce suppliers, he said, which will mean the ability to pass along more data than that typically offered by Visa or MasterCard. Paymentech has a pilot program underway with three hotel chains to test the feasibility of passing along full hotel folio data--not just the total cost of a traveler's three-day stay, for example, but all the details of room rate, tax and meal charges, listed separately.

"We absolutely will have at least limited folio data in 2000, though it's not going to be for every property," Cramer said, "and full folio data in 2001.