Big spenders flash their cards again

American Express Middle East has seen corporate and retail spending surge in 2010 with signs emerging of renewed confidence among regional companies.

American Express Middle East saw its corporate and retail spending surge last year as the worst of the global financial crisis subsided. Mark Lennihan / AP Photo

The global financial crisis forced corporations to cut spending on items including business-class flights and corporate entertaining. But signs are emerging that regional companies and their employees are flashing their cards again.

American Express Middle East recorded a surge in corporate and retail spending last year across the region, said William Keliehor, the regional chief executive.

Mr Keliehor said new card issuances had increased by 16 per cent and customer spending had jumped 13 per cent.

Meanwhile, corporate spending had soared by 30 per cent since 2009. The return of business travel, which had declined sharply during the global financial crisis, was a major component of the rebound, Mr Keliehor said.

He added that the value of some individual purchases was lower during the period, however, suggesting a new corporate frugality forged in the financial crisis could be the new norm.

"Instead of taking a Mercedes, they'd take a Lexus - a cheaper ride. Instead of taking a NetJet, they'd take business-class seats," Mr Keliehor said.

New forms of purchases had also opened up to allow customers to use American Express cards for bill payments, including Salik road tolls and utilities payments to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, boosting the overall revenue.

Mr Keliehor added that American Express was also pinning its hopes on a revival of the high-net-worth market and the so-called mass affluent market, which includes customers who earn more than US$50,000 (Dh183,650) a year.

"Over the next three years, we'll see more people coming into the American Express target market, from managers up to chairmen," he said.

His optimism contrasts with recent surveys of wealth in the region.

The Capgemini/Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report 2010 found that the UAE had seen a dramatic decline in numbers of super-rich residents during the global financial crisis. "The UAE lost around 19 per cent of its [high-net-worth individual] population in 2009, mainly due to the crisis in Dubai and the significant fall - 48 per cent - in real estate prices," the report said.

The wider region saw wealth increase by 5.1 per cent. However, Mr Keliehor said that Dubai had nevertheless been able to see a significant increase in consumer spending. "The UAE continues to be one of the top spending markets globally," he said.

However, Dr Giyas Gokkent, the chief economist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi, said that such optimism did not necessarily reflect an economy that was bouncing back after the downturn, but rather a change in the services that American Express was able to provide.

"What's happened is probably that type of services which are being used are creating a larger number in terms of total value outstanding for Amex cards.

"That need not necessarily reflect on to the rest of the economy," he said, adding that such high levels of growth might be difficult to sustain over time once governments have overhauled their systems.

However, Mr Keliehor said that American Express had seen an opportunity in the launch of credit bureaus around the Gulf, such as the UAE's Federal credit bureau, which was approved late last year.

"What that does for us as a lender is to better enable us to assess the companies' wherewithal to pay."