<B> TechTalk</B>
By Mary Ann McNulty, Technology Editor
<B>OpenTravel Opens Up</B>
The OpenTravel Alliance ad hoc board has lowered the membership fee for small companies, and gave the entire membership an opportunity to review standards drafted by the Interoperability Committee. The board added a new membership tier for companies with annual revenue of less than $5 million, at $1,500 a year. Previously, the lowest-cost membership was $3,000. In terms of participation, the bylaws were changed to allow all members, regardless of their industry sector, to participate in all working groups. "The revisions made will ensure that we truly have an 'open' alliance," said Jim Young of Continental Airlines and ad hoc board chair.
<A NAME="2"><B>New Web Site Consolidates Commissions</B>
Travel industry commission processor National Processing Co. of Louisville, Ky., last month launched an interactive Web site, www.PortNPC.com, that allows travel agencies or corporations with their own ARC or IATA numbers or vendor-designated pseudo codes, to access comprehensive reports on commission payments whether from hotels, car rental companies, airlines, cruise lines or railways. The site provides data from NPC's Commission Express service, which consolidates commissions from multiple vendors into a single weekly payment. Vendors pay for the service, which costs $10 per month. At the behest of its vendor customers, NPC is paying commissions to a number of entities that don't hold IATA or ARC appointments.
Commission Express allows users to view an executive summary of all commission payments as well as drill down to any level of detail and export the data to other software. Two other products NPC is offering include its Global Payment Network, which provides users with electronic currency conversion of commission payments, and Virtual Pay, a site that allows users to electronically send a payment from their own checking account. Unlike most such e-payment options that require a formal relationship between a payee and bank, this doesn't.
<A NAME="3"><B>ProCard Expands Internet Card Tools</B>
In the third of several planned enhancements to its Web-based reporting and administrative tools for purchasing and travel card products, ProCard of Golden, Colo., released PVS Net 3, offering custom mapping to existing accounting or enterprise resource planning systems, online statements and purchase reallocation. Although its tools are used by corporations, ProCard sells the reporting products to banks issuing corporate T&E and purchasing products.
In the last release a month ago, ProCard offered the ability to determine how a card transaction is allocated within an organization, based on the expense type. By automating this feature, the company is helping customers minimize or eliminate intensive labor costs. The release also expanded the scope of PVS Net to include travel expense reporting through a unique Quicken ExpensAble file interface option. Among other features that ProCard expects to release within 120 days are real-time allocation validation, transaction splitting and online card profile maintenance.
<A NAME="4"><B>Singh Gains National Exposure</B>
Concur Technologies Inc. president and CEO Steve Singh is riding high these days, after winning Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year" Award for the Pacific Northwest region, making him eligible to enter the national contest. Earlier this month, Singh also appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" segment, talking about the rise of his company's stock since it went public in December.