Amex Taps New Commercial Card Talent

American Express has tapped two leaders in the commercial card space to join the firm’s Global Commercial Payments unit, the credit card company said Wednesday (March 22).

Andy Nicholas, joining as vice president and general manager, global business development – international, and Ken Sebastian, joining as vice president, global business development – U.S., were named to the positions.

Nicholas, whose post will be based in London, will focus on custom, scalable B2B solutions for large corporate customers of American Express, the company said. He will also focus on new solutions for the T&E space. Before American Express, Nicholas served as head of commercial and prepaid card sales and account management EMEA at Citi.

Sebastian, whose position will be in Atlanta, will focus on T&E and B2B solutions for U.S.-based corporate clients with an international presence. He previously served as director of commercial strategy business and partner commercialization at Visa.

“Large corporations are partnering with American Express to create simplicity and efficiency in a customized way for their corporate payments programs, with a goal of optimizing spend across the fully supply chain,” said Lisa Marks, senior vice president/GM of American Express global business development, global commercial payments, in a statement. “Andy and Ken are helping us effectively respond to this growing demand across the globe.”

The new hires come as American Express works to promote the use of commercial cards in supplier payments. The company launched a B2B payments platform in India last month in the wake of demonetization, while its Global Business Travel unit last year acquired corporate travel technology company KDS.

American Express’ commercial cards are widely viewed as a core strength of the firm, accounting for nearly a third of the firm’s revenue.