Marriott last month entered into an agreement with MasterCard to transit e-folio data from 1,500 of its North American hotels to holders of its corporate card.

If it doesn't come with the credit card data, it doesn't do me any good.' It makes sense for the credit card companies to act as an intermediary because that's where we get all our data. 'We've been pushing Amex pretty heavily to continue down the path. 'E-folio is something I'd absolutely like to see,' ON Semiconductor travel manager Colleen Guhin told BTN just weeks ago, following the announcement of MasterCard and Marriott's folio partnership (BTN, March 7). 'The space is there to accommodate the data automatically.'Ĭorporate travel buyers have been clamoring for better hotel data as a means to help with negotiations and monitor compliance, yet among the major card vendors, American Express was the last holdout. 'Today, the employee has to manually break out their hotel folio and fill in the boxes,' Berry said of third-party expense tools. Corporate travel managers long have considered electronic folio the last frontier to a seamless expense reporting process (BTN, Aug. While card feeds coming froms most hotel transactions break out only the sum of the parts, e-folio transmission enables such line-item details as restaurant, room service, telephone and business center charges, in addition to the room rate and taxes, to be itemized and sent electronically to clients. MasterCard client JohnsonDiversey is among the few companies that have embraced folio data (BTN, Nov. Visa and MasterCard told BTN that its systems already are up and running with links to third-party expense reporting tools. All of the major expense companies, including Concur Technologies, Gelco and Outtask, have said their systems can accept such detailed transactional data. In addition to transmitting the data via the Work tool, Amex said it also will deliver the data through third-party expense reporting tools. 'The purpose of the pilot and the purpose of choosing the hotel chains that we're working with is to ensure we get a broad base of feedback in Europe and North America.' 'The infrastructure is all in place,' Berry said. Amex did not say which companies are included in the pilot. 'It will become available to all the corporate segments, not just the large corporate customers,' Amex vice president of global business partnerships Shane Berry told BTN last week. The move represents American Express' first hotel folio partnerships and signifies a milestone in the evolution of electronic hotel folio initiatives, as use of American Express corporate cards among large corporations surpasses Visa, MasterCard and Diners Club combined.Īmerican Express-echoing claims by Visa and MasterCard-said more hotel partners are expected to follow, but as of this month partners only include Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Choice Hotels International, Hilton International, Marriott International, Radisson Edwardian Hotels and Thistle Hotels.Īfter piloting with a 'select group of companies,' the card vendor as early as June expects to offer folio data to global clients who access enhanced reporting capabilities via its American Express Work tool. Following similar initiatives by Visa U.S.A and MasterCard International, American Express this month will begin transmitting to at least 15 corporate card clients transaction-level folio data from six hotel companies-comprising some 5,500 properties in North America and Europe.

Folio definition