Commercial Payment Cards: U.S. Market Trends, 12th Edition


Attention: There is an updated edition available for this report.

Commercial Payment Cards: U.S. Market Trends, 12th Edition

This report sizes the commercial card market with breakouts and forecasts for Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, as well as quantifications for purchasing card vs. travel and entertainment (T&E) cards. In addition, this report assesses and analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the commercial card space, including a focus on small business market opportunities for commercial cards.



  • Executive Summary
    • Scope & Methodology
      • Scope of Report
      • Report Methodology
    • Overall Credit Card Purchase Volume
      • Trends for the Major Networks
        • Table Total U.S. Credit and Debit Card Purchase Volume for Mastercard, Visa and American Express, Quarterly, 2020-2021 ($billions)
      • Credit Card Receivables Remain Below 2019 Levels
        • Table Total Credit Card Loans, All FDIC-insured Institutions, 2019-2021 ($billions)
      • Largest Consumer Card Issuers Are Among Largest Commercial Card Issuers
        • Table Total Credit Card Receivables of Six Largest Commercial Card Issuers, 2019-2021 ($billions)
      • Commercial Card Market Purchase Volume
        • Table Visa U.S. Commercial Credit and Debit Purchase Volume, 2019-2021 ($billions)
        • Table Mastercard U.S. Commercial Credit and Debit Purchase Volume, 2019-2021 ($billions)
        • Table American Express U.S. Purchasing Volume, Small and Larger Businesses, 2018-Q3 2021
    • Impacts of Covid-19 and Opportunities for Growth
      • Changes in Business Behaviors
      • Travel and Entertainment Spend Levels May Not Recover
      • Positive Commercial Card Market Impacts of COVID-19
      • Virtual Cards Are Driving Growth
      • Optimizing the Power of Network Rails
      • Fintechs Shake up Commercial Card Market
      • Fintechs Harvest New Customers
    • Focus on the Card Networks
      • Visa as Largest U.S. Credit Card Network
      • The Visa Customer Base
      • Visa Becoming a Network of Networks
      • Commercial Credit and Debit Within MasterCard Branded Volume
      • The Mastercard Customer Base
      • Mastercard's Digital Doors
      • The Closed Loop Card Power of American Express
      • The American Express Customer Base
      • American Express vs. Visa and Mastercard
      • Commercial Card Network Forecast Through 2025
        • Table Commercial Card Purchasing Volume, 2019-2025 ($billions)
    • Purchasing and T&E Card Trends
      • Use Case for Virtual Cards Continues Expanding
      • T&E Is a Three-Legged Stool
      • Make Money By Saving Money: Hotel Re-shopping
      • Bank of America Anticipates the Return of Business Travel
    • Focus on Small Business
      • Small Business Base
      • Small Businesses at 35% of Commercial Card Spending
      • COVID-19 Impact on Small Business
      • Fed Reserve Small Business Survey
      • Shift in Provider Mix for Capital
      • Smaller Businesses' Constant Need for Capital
      • Differentiating Products for Small Business
  • Credit Card and Commercial Card Volume Trends
    • Chapter Highlights
    • Types of Commercial Cards
      • Purchasing Cards, Corporate Cards, and Other
      • Large Organizations Use Multiple Types of Cards
      • A Huge Market Opportunity
    • Overall Credit Card Purchase Volume
      • Trends for the Major Networks
        • Table Total U.S. Credit and Debit Card Purchase Volume for Mastercard, Visa and American Express, Quarterly, 2020-2021 ($billions)
      • Credit Card Receivables Remain Below 2019 Levels
        • Table Total Credit Card Loans, All FDIC-insured Institutions, 2019-2021 ($billions)
      • Largest Consumer Card Issuers Are Among Largest Commercial Card Issuers
        • Table Total Credit Card Receivables of Six Largest Commercial Card Issuers, 2019-2021 ($billions)
    • Commercial Card Market Purchase Volume
      • The Big Three
        • Table Visa U.S. Commercial Credit and Debit Purchase Volume, 2019-2021 ($billions)
        • Table Mastercard U.S. Commercial Credit and Debit Purchase Volume, 2019-2021 ($billions)
        • Table American Express U.S. Purchasing Volume, Small and Larger Businesses, 2018-Q3 2021
  • The Competitive Landscape
    • Chapter Highlights
    • Impacts of Covid-19
      • Changes in Business Behaviors
      • Pandemic Reshaped Organizations and Corporate Spending
      • Travel and Entertainment Spend Levels May Not Recover
      • Pandemic Increased Corporation's Allowable Suppliers by 29%
      • COVID-19 Ramps Up Technology Transformation
    • Opportunities for Market Growth
      • Every Business Payment Is an Opportunity
      • Virtual Cards Are Driving Growth
      • Security and Fraud Concerns Drive Commercial Card Adoption
      • Optimizing the Power of Network Rails
      • Fintechs Shake up Commercial Card Market
      • Fintechs Solve Problems They are Confronting Themselves
      • Network Innovator: American Express
      • Fintechs Pressure Traditional Issuers to Innovate
      • Ramp: Competing with American Express
      • Divvy: Eliminating Manual Processes
      • Brex: Daily Payments Build Credit
      • Network Innovator: Mastercard
  • Focus on the Card Networks
    • Chapter Highlights
    • Visa
      • Largest U.S. Credit Card Network
        • Table Visa Global Operational Highlights, 2019-2021
        • Table Visa Financial Highlights, 2019-2021 ($billions)
      • The Visa Customer Base
        • Table Share of U.S. Adults Owning Visa Cards in Own Name: Overall, Business, and Other Card Types, 2021 (percent and number in thousands)
      • Visa Becoming a Network of Networks
    • Mastercard
      • Commercial Credit and Debit Accounts for 11% of Branded Volume
        • Table Mastercard Financials, 2018-2021 ($billions)
      • The Mastercard Customer Base
        • Table Share of U.S. Adults Owning a Mastercard in Own Name: Overall, Business, and Other Card Types, 2021 (percent and number in thousands)
      • Extending Capabilities of Track BPS
      • Mastercard's Digital Doors
    • American Express
      • Closed Loop Card Power
      • The American Express Customer Base
        • Table Share of U.S. Adults Owning American Express Cards in Own Name: Overall, Business, and Other Card Types, 2021 (percent and number in thousands)
      • The Business of American Express
        • Table American Express, Global Summary of Financial Performance, 2018-2021 ($billions)
    • Commercial Card Network Growth Forecast to 2025
      • The COVID Challenge
        • Table Commercial Card Purchasing Volume, 2019-2025 ($billions)
  • Purchasing and T&E Card Trends
    • Chapter Highlights
    • Overview of Purchasing Cards
      • The Workhorse Category
      • Use Case for Virtual Cards Continues Expanding
      • Virtual Cards Align with Employee Payments Expectations
      • Advantages of Purchasing Cards
    • Overview of Travel and Entertainment Cards
      • A Traditional Cornerstone of Spending for Largest Companies
      • T&E Spend Data for Largest Road Warriors
        • Table Largest Corporate Spenders on Travel and Entertainment, 2019
      • Categories of Corporate T&E Spending
      • Airfare: Travel Spend Hit Hard by the Pandemic
      • Global Business Travel Trends
      • Domestic Business Travel Trends
      • Entertainment (Dining) Trends
        • Table Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Sales, 2019-2021 ($billions)
      • Hotel Trends
      • Refining Products in the T&E Market
  • Small Business Focus
    • Chapter Highlights
    • Overview of Small Businesses in the U.S.
      • Small Business Market Characteristics
      • Small Businesses at 35% of Commercial Card Spending
      • Qualitative Characteristics of the Small Business Owner
      • COVID-19 and the Smaller Business
        • Table Smaller Business Use of Personal Funds and Loans to Stay Open at the Height of the Pandemic (February to July 2020)
      • Smaller Business Owners Cut Their Own Salaries
        • Table Five Most Common COVID Impacts on Small Businesses
      • Pandemic's Toll on Small Businesses
      • Federal Aid Saved Small Businesses During the Pandemic
      • Financial Challenges: Debt and Access to Credit
        • Table Providers of Loans, LOCs and Cash Advances to Small Businesses During the Pandemic
      • Smaller Businesses Are Always Crunched for Capital
      • Small Business Cards Mesh the Personal and the Business
      • Advantages of Small Business Cards
      • JPMorgan Chase: Products for Different Types of Businesses
      • Business Credit Card Issuer Challenges
      • A Tale of Ying and Yang: Marketing Strategies of Card Issuers
      • American Express Retools its Small Business Strategy
        • Table AmEx's SME Global Billed Business, Q3 2021

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