With corporations' need for more detailed management information and their increased interest in globalizing T&E management, American Express will be launching two major enhancements to its Global Information Services. The Company is unveiling an industry "first" — a set of consolidated reports that show the gap, transaction by transaction, between what business travelers reserve and what they actually expense. American Express is also expanding the scope of its Corporate Card data, offering detailed transaction-level reporting for 80 countries, which is more than double the number of countries in the data set that has been offered to date. This expansion will strengthen customers' capability to track their Corporate Card spend and to use the data to drive negotiations with suppliers.

"Our customers recognize the power of leveraging their spend information, and our new reporting capabilities will let them take two giant steps in their campaign for better cost control," said Anré Williams, executive vice president, U.S. Commercial Card.

Both innovations are the result of American Express' investment in building and expanding its Global Data Repository, which captures Corporate Card and Business Travel information.

Looking for the Gaps

In December, Global Information Services, the group within Global Corporate Services that creates and produces Commercial Card and Business Travel reporting, will launch a new tool called the "Variance Report--Billed Vs. Booked." This set of reports includes individual transactions (by supplier sector), showing the Cardmember's charged expense versus the cost captured at the point of reservation. With this consolidated report, travel managers can easily identify any gaps that might suggest out-of-policy activity. It will also help companies manage supplier contracts.

The reports will combine charges made on the Corporate Card with corresponding booked data from American Express Business Travel. The new tool will be added to American Express' Market Level Enhanced Reporting package and will be offered, without additional fee, to all clients that use both the Corporate Card and Business Travel Services.

Variance reporting will reflect summary and detailed air travel, lodging and car rental spending data — at both the vendor level and Cardmember level. Clearly marked columns will show the variance between booked and charged information.

Variance Reports will be available to customers 24/7 on American Express @ Work, a hosted, Web-based platform where Cardmembers and card program administrators can manage their programs, access data and handle expense reconciliation online. Currently, customers can view both Travel and Card reports separately on the system.

In addition, Global Information Services is developing a series of pro-active compliance reporting that will help T&E managers further pinpoint errant spenders — for example, a report that identifies travelers who book ‘Web' fares rather than a firm's negotiated airfares.

"Variance reports will make my life a lot easier," said Lorraine Rostanzo, Director of Global Travel and Support Services, at Columbia, MD-based W.R. Grace & Co. "The big advantage is that they'll clearly point out the variance between booked and charged data, and I'll be able to drill down to the transaction level. Not only will it help me identify the total cost of an airline ticket, it will be much easier to identify employees who, for example, use the approved Card but not the approved agency, as well as those who book coach and charge an upgrade to first class at the airport. The reports will also be another tool to keep track of vendor leakage to maintain the integrity of my programs."

More Buying Power in Emerging Markets

In another enhancement, American Express in the fourth quarter will more than double the number of countries in which it can provide detailed transaction-level Commercial Card spending data to companies. The move to expand Market Level Enhanced Reporting to more countries will further assist companies, many of which are operating in developing markets, to refine how they manage expenditures and boost buying power.

Through its Global Data Repository, American Express currently provides summary level commercial card spending information to companies in a total of 121 countries, plus transaction-level detail reporting in 39 countries. But this fall, the company will add more detailed reporting for an additional 41 countries, all of which are in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Next year, enhanced reporting for the remaining European and Asian countries will follow.

Market Level Enhanced reporting allows firms to study spend in a variety of ways, among them:

• From hundreds of spending categories, including major T&E and other everyday business purchases, e.g., air, car, hotel, office supplies, and computers, to subcategories such as telecom, rail, limo, and taxi.
• By vendor level.
• By region, country or market, business unit, department, cost center.
• By employee level or employee ID and transaction-level.

The expanded reporting will be accessible round-the-clock to clients via American Express @ Work. To ensure the most inclusive picture of spend possible is captured, the reports will be updated daily — including unbilled Cardmember charges.

In a recent study of over 100 companies across the globe, Accenture found that companies that don't use the most comprehensive corporate card management information for negotiations and expense processing are potentially missing out on a savings opportunity of up to 9 percent of their total travel and entertainment (T&E) spending. That figure is made up of an additional 7.2 percent in price savings, above and beyond the deals they already have with airlines, hotels, and car rental companies, as well as an additional 1.8 percent in savings on processing and paying for T&E.

For a large company with $25 million in annual T&E spending, this equates to $2.25 million in hard-dollar savings.

About American Express Global Corporate Services

Through its Global Corporate Services group, American Express provides expense management services to more than 100,000 firms worldwide through its Commercial Card and Business Travel services. It is both the leading issuer of commercial cards and the largest corporate travel management company in the world, serving nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 500, along with tens of thousands of mid-sized companies. More information on expense management tools from Global Corporate Services can be found at http://www.americanexpress.com/corporateservices.

The American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products, insurance and international banking.