Amex: 2021 a Banner Year for SME Business, Large Corp. T&E Growth Lags

Spending volume on American Express commercial cards continued on an upward trajectory in the fourth quarter, totaling $141 billion compared with $126 billion in the third quarter and up 30 percent year over year, the company reported.

Travel and entertainment spending’s share of that total also continued to increase, comprising 16 percent of total commercial volume in the fourth quarter, up from 14 percent in the third quarter. Commercial T&E volume was down 39 percent compared with 2019 volume, a relative improvement from the 50 percent decline seen in the third quarter.

Average fourth-quarter spending per Amex’s Global Commercial Services division cardholder also increased to $9,235 from $8,447 in the second quarter and $7,515 in the third quarter of 2020, according to American Express. The number of corporate cards in force increased 6 percent year over to year to 15.4 million.

American Express vice chairman and CFO Jeff Campbell in an earnings call said total T&E spending “continues to recover in line with expectations” although the rise of the Covid-19 omicron variant had a “modest impact” with the “pace of recovery slowed in December.”

Large and global corporate T&E volumes reached 36 percent of 2019 levels in the fourth quarter, though they were up 144 percent year over year. Campbell said those volumes will be the “last to recover” for American Express.

T&E spending by small and medium-sized companies, however, recovered to 83 percent of 2019 levels in the quarter. T&E spending by U.S. SMEs was up 145 percent year over year, and for SMEs outside of the United States, T&E spending was up 99 percent year over year in the fourth quarter. 2021 was “one of the best years we’ve ever seen for U.S. SME new account acquisition,” American Express CEO Stephen Squeri said in the earnings call.

U.S. consumer T&E spending, meanwhile, surpassed 2019 levels by 8 percent in the fourth quarter.

Across all T&E spending, spending volume on airlines was down 43 percent in the fourth quarter compared with 2019 levels but up 274 percent year over year. Lodging spend was down 24 percent compared with 2019 but up 134 percent year over year.

Michael B. Baker  www.businesstravelnews.com