Commercial Payment Cards: Cutting Costs and Boosting Control on a Global Stage

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 10, 2007 -- In an age where corporate spending is subject to the highest level of scrutiny and control, commercial cards offer enterprises a means to closely track spending and provide a faster and more efficient payment process. Leveraging purchasing cards and corporate cards can assist an enterprise in streamlining the payment process for many key spend categories -- T&E (travel and entertainment), MRO (maintenance, repair and operations), office supplies and many more.

This research effort by the Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS) documented the insights of 263 enterprises globally (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America). The "Global Commercial Payment Cards" report found that the average processing cost per transaction with a P-card is 70% to 75% lower than manual methods of payment.

"Enterprises across the globe are seeing not only reduced processing costs after implementing purchasing card and corporate card programs but they also gain enhanced visibility into spending," said lead author and Aberdeen Senior Analyst Vishal Patel. "These programs are becoming more widely accepted throughout the world, especially in Asia-Pacific where T&E spend is rising quickly."

Although Aberdeen's newest research endeavor discovered many common similarities between the four major regions surveyed, the report also generated some major differences, for example:

--  North Americans have achieved the highest level of maturity with P-
    card programs; 75% of enterprises in this region have had a program in
    place for at least 3 years, and 50% have had one for more than 6 years.
--  Concerning P-card programs, a major priority for 80% of enterprises in
    the Asia-Pacific is to ensure auditable procedures, controls and fraud
    protection.
--  Latin American enterprises are aggressively pushing for card program
    compliance: 60% of enterprises in this region are auditing every corporate
    card expense.
--  The majority of European enterprises (56%) believe that increasing the
    number of employees provided with a corporate card will drive growth in a
    corporate payment card program.
    

To learn more about practices and strategies employed around payment cards in the various regions, download a complimentary copy of the "Global Commercial Payment Cards" report, please visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3945

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Vishal Patel Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5245 vishal.patel@aberdeen.com