RIYADH: American Express has launched its new Corporate Travel Account (CTA) service across the Middle East on a staggered schedule. The CTA will be a major innovative cardless solution that will empower companies by providing greater transparency on their travel expenses, helping them to streamline costs and identifying important saving opportunities.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Fahad Mubarak Al-Guthami, chief operating officer at American Express (Saudi Arabia), said: “Today, we are celebrating the launch of CTA in Saudi Arabia through Amex (Saudi Arabia) as the first country in the Middle East to receive this new business solution.”
A ceremony was also organized at the local Marriot Hotel to mark the launch of the new service. Prominent among those attending, representing Amex, were Priyan Attygalle, Amex chief operating officer; Sami El-Natour, head of marketing and public relations; Nizar Abu Hassan, marketing manager and Mark Turner, consultant.
The presentation made by Al-Guthami and Turner on the features of the CTA explained the benefits of the newly introduced service, which will provide businesses with a complete industry-leading solution in managing their travel accounts. “Unmatched efficiency and significantly minimized operational costs are the chief benefits of the CTA,” said Al-Guthami, adding that CTA also supports the travel agencies, facilitating their operations and auditing requirements, particularly with regard to large corporate accounts.
Salient features
Al-Guthami pointed out, “CTA removes the need for the travel agents themselves to allocate funds for airline bookings, thereby significantly improving their cash flow scenario.”
He said that the air travel spending on American Express cards grew by a rate of 50 percent as compared to 2007. “Moreover, CTA is set to redefine and streamline the management of these expenses throughout the Kingdom,” he added.
Spelling out the salient features and benefits of the CTA, he said: “For most companies in the Kingdom, travel and entertainment are often the third largest operating expenses, of which air travel is the largest cost item. Meanwhile, travel agencies invest a great deal of money, time and resources in managing payment receivables. CTA has been launched as the ideal solution to overcome such challenges.”
Said Amex consultant, Turner, “As a virtual solution, CTA enables the billing of air travel expenses through a centralized account lodged with travel agencies,” adding that the descriptive billing statements provided by Amex to companies would provide enhanced data, thus helping them to easily reconcile and allocate expenses.
“In addition, detailed management information is a highly valued product benefit that will provide companies in the Kingdom with the latest ‘next practice’ reporting capability” said Turner.
“CTA reflects our competitive edge in the payments industry and our commitment to businesses and the travel industry sector,” he added.
