Concur partner ecosystem is a win win for all

Partner panel discussion: from left, Nichlas Maratos, VP - Sales, Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide; Matthew Richardson, Director of Strategy and Planning Manager for SE Asia, Uber and Nigel Fox, VP and GM, Global Corporate Payments for Singapore, American Express International

Concur Technologies partners have listed multiple benefits to being part of the Concur ecosystem in a panel moderated by Marten Jagers, VP, Strategic Sales & Platform, Asia Pacific, Concur Technologies, at the recent fusion exchange event in Singapore.

Concur customers who book hotels, flights, meals and and ground transport on business travel with Concur partners have the transactions automatically included into their expense reports, while Concur partners see increased revenues. According to Jagers, Concur customers are responsible for half a million bookings on the Starwood site, and 600% growth on Uber bookings in the past 12 months through the Uber app in Asia Pacific.

Nigel Fox, VP and GM, Global Corporate Payments for Singapore, American Express (Amex) International, said there are 4,000 regional Amex customers with Concur today, and that the partnership has created more efficiencies for the back office experience. The cost of processing invoices has fallen from US$25 to US$4, while the time to process an invoice has shrunk from 18 to four days.

"One of the great things is that Concur captures not only card spend but cash spend. Overall this is giving you some fantastic insights," he said, listing benefits such as being able to consolidate suppliers, negotiate better buying rates, and identify other opportunities to improve the business based on hard data. "Data integration is going to deliver substantial benefits."

Matthew Richardson, Director of Strategy and Planning Manager for SE Asia, Uber, explained that his company connects riders and drivers. "We're all about making life more convenient for our riders and also for our drivers. It's always about making the process magical. With Concur we take that process further," he said. "It's not just a regular receipt."

Details that are entered into an expense include the pickup location, the destination, a GPS tracker of the route taken, and driver details, Richardson said, adding that Uber supports policies such as Uber trips to be expensed may only occur at certain times of the day.

There are also synergies between partners. Nichlas Maratos, VP - Sales, Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, disclosed that Uber passengers who are staying at Starwood properties can earn double the loyalty points. "Travellers want a better way to experience the world... we're giving customers or travellers the ability to book the way they want to book."