Concur to transform expense systems

Concur, a US-based travel and expense management solutions provider, sees enormous market opportunities in the China market.

China, it said, has become the world's largest market for business travel. "China represents an enormous market opportunity, and we look forward to expanding the services we already offer multinational Chinese companies," said Mike Eberhard, president of Concur.

Apart from multinationals, Concur will serve local Chinese companies, Eberhard said. "We have been building local capability for the last five years."

Concur's cooperation agreements with China's largest online travel agency Ctrip and ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing ensure most Chinese companies have a good local travel and expense management solution, Eberhard added.

According to the Global Business Travel Association, China's business travel market reached $291.2 billion in 2015, up 11.4 percent year-on-year, surpassing the US market's $290 billion. It forecasts that total business travel expenses of China will grow by more than 10 percent in 2016 to $320 billion.

Eberhard said Concur, which is part of SAP, the software multinational, will increase investment in the China market, which will be the fastest-growing one for the company over the next five years. "Many enterprises, be it those that are already global or the ones that are going to go global, are looking at us to help them expand globally."

Concur has more than 34,000 clients, representing more than 40 million users in over 150 countries. Over 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies are its customers. This has given the 23-year-old company a dominant position in the market.

The company will also deliver customized expense management services for Chinese companies, ensuring compliance with China's financial management policies, including value-added tax reform requirements and other regulations.

Moreover, the wide adoption of new technologies, including cloud computing, big data and mobile technology, is driving Chinese companies to digitize their businesses as they grow organically and through acquisitions.

Concur is now making efforts to enable Chinese companies to digitize significant financial processes. It will continue to bring more innovative technologies in cloud computing, big data and mobile technology into corporate financial management. This is expected to accelerate financing transformation.

The company has also announced a strategic partnership with China DataCom Corporation Limited, an important cloud service provider in China. China DataCom is a joint venture by SAP and China Communications Services Corporation Limited.