Survey sees overall increase in consumer confidence in Asia Pacific region

MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard Worldwide announced double-digit growth in its commercial payment solutions (CPS) business in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region. For the first quarter 2010, the business posted a 25.6 percent increase in cards issued and a 21.6 percent increase in gross dollar volume versus the same period in 2009.

The latest MasterCard Worldwide index of consumer confidence findings for the APMEA region have indicated steady optimism and an overall increase in consumer confidence levels.

Alongside this, there has been a significant rebound in business travel and commercial payment solutions have continued to steadily emerge in the APMEA region as companies and government entities seek effective ways to manage their finances and procurement processes more efficiently. The demand for commercial payments services has seen more customized solutions being developed to fully realize the unique needs of corporates and governments. 

“MasterCard commercial payment products, which includes a comprehensive suite of solutions developed through extensive research and hinged on product innovation, have seen strong growth in this region as both private and public sectors drive towards greater oversight and transparency of spend, and seek to do more with less,” said Kevin Goldmintz, senior business leader, Corporate Payment Solutions, APMEA, MasterCard Worldwide.

 MasterCard continues to drive innovation in corporate payments through solutions such as Corporate and Purchasing cards and the central travel solution (CTS). Travel and Entertainment is the second largest controllable expense and business travel takes up a majority of the total T&E expenses in a company. Cost control, data availability and policy compliance becomes critical to increasing negotiation power with preferred suppliers.