ExpenseItems - 2003-08-11

Visa Reports 1Q Commercial Card Growth

Visa International last month announced that its commercial payment segment witnessed nearly 28 percent growth in the first quarter of this year, "generating $151 billion in annual card sales volume," according to a statement released by the network. "The volume in this sector is driven primarily by Visa Business, Visa Purchasing and Visa Corporate cards." Visa last year reported 20 percent growth compared with its results from 2001. However, the company said it would not break out to what extent the corporate T&E market has contributed to its success in the commercial segment.



Concur Reports Profit

Redmond, Wash.-based corporate expense reporting provider Concur Technologies last month announced net income of $399,000 for the three-month period ending in June, making it the first pure expense software vendor to achieve a quarterly profit. The one cent per share profit "marks a significant milestone in our company," said Steve Singh, president and CEO of Concur, which was formed as Portable Software 10 years ago. Revenues for the quarter were more than $14 million, compared with $11 million during the same period last year. As in recent quarters, Concur achieved most of its revenue growth through subscription sales of its hosted expense solutions. The company signed 155 subscription contracts last quarter, which is "more than twice the quarterly average," Singh said.

Nick Trotman, an analyst covering Concur for the firm Adams, Harkness & Hill, said he expects the momentum for the company's subscription business to continue into the fourth quarter and beyond. According to First Call, two analysts covering Concur Technologies predicted that the fourth quarter would bring Concur's profit to four cents per share, with fiscal-year profits totaling five cents per share. Strong subscription sales countered relatively weak license sales, and Singh said the latter market remains "volatile." However, Concur has rebounded from the second quarter when license sales faltered below the quarterly average. "License revenues rebounded to historical averages as predicted," Singh said. "License revenues continue to be a volatile portion of our business. We expect no change in the volatile nature in this part of our business."

Even prior to its acquisition of rival Captura, nearly a year ago, Concur's earnings consistently have trumped the previous quarter's earnings. Singh expects the growth to continue, as the expense management market is still ripe for business. "At least 97 percent of all companies are still mired in a paper-based reporting process," he said, "which makes expense management automation a relatively new business process frontier."



Amex Changes Terms For Corp. Cardholders

American Express last month notified corporate cardholders of two changes in policy: raising the late-payment fee and announcing a charge for duplicate billing statements. Effective Sept. 15, Amex will raise its late fee rate to 2.99 percent from 2.75 percent and also will raise the fee for returned checks from $25 to $29. An Amex spokesperson said the company raised its late payment rate and return check fee because the "cost of managing these processes continues to go up." Beginning in October, the company—in an attempt to move as many paper-based processes online—will charge cardholders $5 when they request a duplicate copy of a billing statement more than three months old, "with a maximum of $45 for multiple statements." The company will not assess a fee for statements less than three months old. "As a reminder, 'printable versions' of statements are available online for the previous six months, at no cost," Stephen Squeri, president of global commercial card at Amex wrote in a memo to cardholders.