MasterCard Worldwide said on Thursday that its commercial payment solutions business in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions posted double-digit growth in the first quarter of this year, indicating a growing demand for such services in these regions.
The business posted a 25.6 percent increase in the number of cards issued and a 21.6 percent increase in gross dollar volume compared with the same period last year, MasterCard Worldwide said in a statement.
Commercial payment solutions are aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises to effectively manage and supervise their finances and procurement procedures as their information integration ability is usually not as strong as their larger counterparts, the company said.
Citing its latest consumer confidence findings that indicated steady optimism, the company said that there has been a significant rebound in business travel and that commercial payment solutions have continued to emerge steadily in the region.
“Demand for commercial payment services has seen more customized solutions being developed to fully realize the unique needs of corporations and governments,” the company said.
While driving innovation in corporate payments through solutions such as corporate and purchasing cards, the company said cost control, data availability and policy compliance have become critical to increasing negotiation power with preferred suppliers for companies.
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