All metrics pointed upward for AirPlus International
when 2015 results came in. "We are winning the business of agencies which
have used invoicing instead of corporate payments in the past and from domestic
issuers which do not have an international product offering," said
chairman Patrick Diemer. "Our biggest interest is in the upper-middle
segment. They are sizable companies, have an international demand and require
good service."
Card customers rose 3,300 to 46,500
globally, and transactions grew 11 million to 154 million. Issuing volume
climbed 9.1 percent from €12.7 billion to €13.8 billion; broken down, that's 3
percent in AirPlus' home region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and 15
percent elsewhere. Revenue increased from €320 million to €329 million, and
earnings before interest and tax climbed from €46.3 million to €51.7 million.
Diemer added that one-third of the growth
came from existing customers, some of which extended use of AirPlus to more
parts of their organizations. On a like-for-like basis, he said, growth was
limited. "We see customers buying the same amount of tickets, but prices
have gone down a little bit."
Volume growth for the core centrally
billed AirPlus Company Account grew 8 percent last year, as did the corporate
card, while the A.I.D.A. virtual card solution shot up 38 percent. A.I.D.A. is
used overwhelmingly for hotels and low-cost carriers, for which payments rose thanks
to a new partnership with Amadeus. But Diemer added, "A number of
customers are starting to use A.I.D.A. as a purchasing card for non-T&E
items."
The first quarter of 2016 saw global
volume climb 4.3 percent, although Diemer said the numbers were artificially
depressed by Easter falling in March. AirPlus has set itself an ambitious
target to increase annual issuing volume to €20 billion by 2020, expecting the
highest growth levels from plastic cards, virtual cards and Asia/Pacific.
Asia/Pacific
Opportunity
China was once again AirPlus' leading
growth market in 2015. The issuer enjoyed an early leadership position there thanks
to regulatory restrictions on its competitors. Those restrictions have since relaxed,
so is Diemer feeling rivals' breath on his neck? "Not really," he
said. "We have expected our competitors to launch products, but it has not
happened. It continues to be the case that if you want a lodge card in China,
you have to choose AirPlus. We have been winning customers who have global
contracts with one issuer for the rest of the world."
He said pressure from Chinese customers
for service in the rest of Asia/Pacific has pushed his company to commence
service in India, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam and New Zealand
by 2017.
In
the Works
AirPlus also plans to offer A.I.D.A. in
the United States and Hong Kong and self-issue corporate cards in Poland,
Hungary and Czech Republic for the first time.
It also has launched a more robust
version of the ancillary air spend reporting it's been running in the United States
and has made the offering global: AirPlus Information Manager now includes a
breakdown of ancillary fees booked pre-trip in electronic miscellaneous
documents via a global distribution system and paid via the AirPlus Company
Account. "Our colleagues in the U.S. created a hands-on, pragmatic
solution," said Diemer. "This is an automated solution which can be
scaled."
And at Frankfurt Airport, AirPlus is piloting Parking@Airport,
which automatically charges an employer's Company Account when a traveler drives
out of the airport's car parks—no expense claim needed.