New Global Survey Reveals Corporate and Purchasing Card Practices Vary by Region

A global survey titled, "Global Commercial Payment Cards: Cutting
Costs and Boosting Control on a Global Stage," finds that companies
worldwide primarily implement corporate card programs for enhanced
visibility into spend (nearly 70 percent), and that the number one
priority for companies around the world for implementing purchasing
card (P-card) programs is reducing administrative costs for
transaction processing (86 percent), but the goals and growth drivers
for the programs differ by region.

Global highlights from the Commercial Payment Cards Survey
include:

-- Annual spending on corporate cards for travel and
entertainment (T&E) expenses has increased among respondents
worldwide by more than 20 percent from 2005 to 2006.

-- The majority of organizations surveyed worldwide (66 percent)
indicate that mandating the use of corporate cards is the top
factor for driving growth of the card programs.

-- Companies worldwide value the reporting capabilities of
P-cards to capture detailed transaction data, but the business
functions facilitated by the reports differ by region.

"Corporate and purchasing payment programs have long been
recognized by companies worldwide for their ability to effectively
increase the bottom-line by improving overall processing efficiencies
and cash flow management by providing enhanced visibility into
expenditures," said Aliza Knox, senior vice president, Visa
Commercial, Visa International. "The global Aberdeen survey results
reveal that while companies worldwide benefit from the implementation
of commercial payment cards, the reasons why companies implement and
expand the programs vary from cost-savings to improved visibility of
payments."

The Global Commercial Payment Cards Survey, underwritten by Visa
and ACTE Global, the association of corporate travel executives, and
conducted by analyst firm Aberdeen Group, explores the practices and
strategies around the use of commercial payment programs, specifically
around corporate cards and P-cards for organizations in four major
regions, including Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North
America. Corporate cards are used primarily for T&E expenses, while
P-cards are primarily used by companies for expenses related to
maintenance, repair, operations, and office supplies.

"We're happy to bring this valuable body of global research to our
members to help them better understand the commercial payment card
practices and strategies that are effectively implemented by companies
around the world," said Susan Gurley, Global Executive Director, ACTE
Global. "Key survey findings like these help our member organizations
to be more efficient and successful."

"In an age where corporate spending is subject to the highest
level of scrutiny and control, commercial cards, such as Visa
corporate and purchasing cards, offer enterprises a means of closely
tracking spending while providing a faster and more efficient payment
process," said Vishal Patel, senior research analyst, Global Supply
Management Research, Aberdeen Group.

Regional highlights from the Commercial Payment Cards Survey
include:

Spend Increasing

Corporate Cards

Among respondents to the survey, annual spending for T&E expenses
varied by region. Spending increased by 17.5 percent in Latin America
and 44 percent in Asia Pacific from 2005 to 2006, compared to the
overall average worldwide increase of approximately 20 percent (22
percent in North America and 24 percent in Europe).

Growth Drivers

Corporate Cards

Among the different regions, organizations have slightly differing
views on the factors that will drive growth in their corporate card
programs:

-- In Asia Pacific, 69 percent of responding organizations
require the usage of corporate cards for T&E expenses, and 78
percent of organizations are looking to expand corporate card
use to non-travel-related categories as a way of driving
growth.

-- In Latin America and Europe, organizations cite the number of
employees given a card (56 percent), increasing travel budgets
(approximately 60 percent), and the expansion of spending to
non-travel-related categories (53 percent), as factors that
will drive growth.

Purchasing Cards

The categories in which purchases are made via P-cards are
anticipated to expand differently across various regions:

-- The top category to be addressed by companies in North America
and Asia Pacific is system integration services (80 percent
and 75 percent, respectively).

-- In Europe, 73 percent of companies plan to use P-cards for
temporary labor and 67 percent for IT services.

-- Eighty-three percent of companies in Latin America plan to use
P-cards for advertising and marketing services.

Reporting Benefits

Purchasing Cards

Responding organizations across the globe view P-card reporting
capabilities as important, but the business functions for which the
transaction reporting data is used varies.

-- Most organizations regard integration with general ledger and
other transactional systems as very important with the
exception of those in some European companies (58 percent).

-- Latin American companies cite the ability to create customized
reports as the most important use for reporting data (86
percent).

-- Eighty-four percent of responding North American companies
believe that a significant benefit for reporting is meeting
regulatory requirements.

Implementation Objectives

Corporate Cards

A large majority of responding organizations in Europe and Latin
America (69 percent and 70 percent, respectively) cite eliminating
cash advances as a significant objective. North American and Asia
Pacific companies report policy compliance (51 percent and 67 percent,
respectively) as being among their top objectives.

Purchasing Cards

According to the survey, the second highest priority worldwide is
to ensure auditable procedures, controls and fraud protection (62
percent).

Respondents' goals for implementing P-card programs vary slightly
by region:

-- Cost reduction is of significant importance to organizations
in Asia Pacific (80 percent).

-- Increasing the transaction volume and dollars is important to
companies in North America (65 percent).

-- Improving cash management is one of the top priorities to
organizations in Latin America (63 percent).

Program Longevity

Corporate Cards

Among respondents, corporate card programs have been
well-established, although they vary in duration of implementation by
region:

-- The majority of North American organizations using corporate
cards (63 percent) have had their programs in place for more
than six years, including about a third that have been in
place for more than 10 years.

-- On average, European programs have had a shorter tenure than
their North American counterparts; however, 17 percent have
had card programs in operation for more than 10 years.

-- Organizations in Asia Pacific (42 percent) and Latin America
(40 percent) have been running programs for between three and
five years.

Purchasing Cards

North American organizations have a longer history with their
P-card programs than organizations in other regions. Seventy-five
percent of card-using respondent companies have had a program in place
for at least three years and 50 percent have had one in place for more
than six years.

-- Both European and Asia Pacific regions are nearing the program
longevity of North American organizations since the majority
of companies in both of these areas have had P-card programs
in place from three to 10 years (63 percent and 51 percent,
respectively).

-- Latin American companies are just recently emerging as users
of P-cards. Forty percent of card-using organizations in this
region have only had a card program in place for less than a
year.

Visit http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3945 to
download the entire Global Commercial Payment Cards Survey.

Notes to Editors:

Research and Survey Objective and Methodology: During February and
March 2007, Aberdeen Group surveyed 263 organizations across a wide
range of industries in four major regions (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin
America, and North America) to identify the goals and initiatives
around corporate payment cards. Aberdeen supplemented the online
survey effort with select telephone interviews.

About ACTE Global: The Association of Corporate Travel Executives
(ACTE) is a not-for-profit association established to provide
executive-level global education and peer-to-peer networking
opportunities. Membership spans all of business travel, from corporate
buyers to agencies to suppliers, and accords all sectors equal
membership. ACTE serves more than 5,000 executives in 49 countries.
For more information, visit http://www.acte.org.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company: Aberdeen is a leading
provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers
demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in
the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users
to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales,
and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the
trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to
Aberdeen(TM) for insights that drive decisions. For additional
information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call
617-723-7890.

About Visa Commercial: Visa Commercial payment solutions -- Visa
Business, Visa Corporate and Visa Purchasing -- combine payment with
information to create intelligent payment solutions that are designed
to enable business and government organizations of any size and type
to reduce costs, streamline operational and payment processes, and
make more informed business decisions. Backed by Visa's unsurpassed
acceptance, Visa Commercial products and services are designed to
provide a complete way to manage payment-related processes, including
travel and entertainment and procurement expenditures, payroll
distribution, and information management. For more information, visit
www.visa.com/visacommercial.

About Visa: Visa connects cardholders, merchants and financial
institutions through the world's largest electronic payments network.
Visa products allow buyers and sellers to conduct commerce with ease
and confidence in both the physical and virtual worlds. Visa is
committed to the sustained growth of electronic payment systems to
support the needs of all stakeholders and to drive economic growth.
Visa products currently generate more than $4 trillion in sales volume
worldwide. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In
addition, Visa/Plus is one of the world's largest global ATM networks,
offering cash access in local currency in over 170 countries. For more
information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.