Commercial payments globally today are seeing a major transformation. Studies show that businesses that adopted commercial payments saw a 132% ROI in just three years. Commercial cards alone reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) from 45 days to 15 days while improving debt collection rates by 20%.
But is this the current scenario in MENAP?
The reality without commercial cards
Across MENAP, many SMEs and corporates still operate on outdated financial processes.
- Manual approvals and paper reports delay decision-making.
- Fragmented supplier payments are riddled with hidden fees.
- Month-end spending data that exposes budget overruns only after it’s too late.
- Cashflow gaps are filled with interest-heavy short-term credit.
- Compliance risks are discovered only during audits.
Consider a mid-size distributor with 40 staff and 50 active suppliers:
- Employees submit paper expense claims that take up to three weeks to process.
- Supplier transfers move through multiple banks, with settlement delays of 5-7 days
- Finance reconciles spend once a month, discovering the budget is already 20% overshot
- To cover receivables, management takes costly short-term loans.
This isn’t inefficiency – it’s a structural drag on growth. And it’s the reality for thousands of businesses across MENAP today.
For banks and NBFIs, this highlights both a challenge and an opportunity: those who continue offering traditional banking rails will lose relevance to fintech challengers, while those who launch modern commercial cards programs can cement themselves as strategic growth partners to SMEs and corporates.
This is where NymCard’s infrastructure makes the difference — enabling banks to embed commercial card programs into their offerings quickly, compliantly, and at scale.
How do commercial cards change the game?
Instant visibility, smarter control
The challenge: Expense reviews often happen weeks too late, after money is already gone.
With commercial cards:
- Set spending limits by employee, department, or vendor.
- Monitor every transaction in real time via APIs.
- Block unauthorized merchants before payment is processed.
The outcome: Finance gains proactive control, and your bank is positioned as a partner in smarter financial management.
Cut overhead, focus on growth
The challenge: Manual reimbursements, paper receipts, and delayed approvals inflate operating costs.
With commercial cards:
- Eliminate reimbursement cycles through direct employee card use
- Automate reconciliation into accounting systems.
- Replace manual approvals with digitized, auditable workflows.
The outcome: Corporations reduce overhead, finance teams shift to strategy, and banks unlock deeper client loyalty.
Stronger supplier relationships
The challenge: Vendor payments are often delayed, costly, and hard to reconcile — especially cross-border.
With commercial cards:
- Pay local and international suppliers through a single platform.
- Reduce settlement times and bank charges.
- Consolidate all vendor payments into one transparent record
The outcome: SMEs build supplier trust, and your bank becomes central to their daily operations.
Healthier cash flow
The challenge: Receivable delays force businesses to turn to short-term loans.
With commercial cards:
- Offer flexible settlement cycles aligned to receivables.
- Provide access to credit lines that bridge liquidity gaps.
- Improve predictability in managing payables.
The outcome: Businesses reduce reliance on borrowing, avoid interest costs, and maintain healthier working capital.
Built-Compliance and fraud prevention
The challenge: Manual compliance checks expose companies to fraud and fines.
With commercial cards:
- Enforce compliance policies automatically.
- Trigger real-time fraud alerts.
- Maintain a digital audit trail for all transactions.
The outcome: Businesses lower their exposure to fraud and compliance, while your bank strengthens its reputation for reliability.
Why this matters for MENAP banks and financial institutions?
Launching a commercial card program isn’t just about reducing inefficiency for clients — it’s a strategic move for banks and NBFIs. The benefits include:
- New revenue streams: Interchange, FX margins, settlement fees, and value-added services.
- Client retention: Daily integration into client operations creates stickiness.
- Differentiation: Stand out in markets where fintechs are already offering modern card-led solutions.
- Cross-sell opportunities: Stronger relationships create natural paths to offer lending, treasury, and insurance products.
- Faster innovation: With NymCard, you can launch programs quickly without overhauling legacy systems.
How NymCard makes it possible?
NymCard provides the infrastructure that makes this possible. Through a single platform, we enable banks and financial institutions to launch and scale commercial card programs with speed, compliance, and flexibility. From API-driven issuing to built-in fraud controls and settlement flexibility, our solutions are designed to help financial institutions bring measurable value to their SME and corporate clients.
Explore our commercial payments platform here.
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