Stan Anderson, a consultant who was instrumental in getting banks into the purchasing card business, has formed an alliance with Business Dynamics Consulting Inc. of Nyack, N.Y.
Purchasing cards are typically issued to company employees for relatively small business purchases such as office supplies. These and other commercial cards have become one of the most competitive and fast- growing business lines for American Express, MasterCard, and Visa.
Mr. Anderson and Business Dynamics founding partner Arthur Clark said they plan to work with both new entrants in the commercial card market and companies interested in expanding their existing portfolios.
Mr. Clark called Mr. Anderson "a true industry pioneer who singlehandedly established the market for purchasing cards."
"The card associations do some wonderful things, but they don't have the resources to assist individual banks in deciding what the best approach for them might be," said Mr. Anderson, who is president of Anderson & Associates in Arvada, Colo. "We'd like to fill that void."
Mr. Anderson said he has six clients on board so far, but he would not say who they are.
Asked how the alliance would assist banks beginning to plot commercial card strategies, Mr. Clark said, "We'd define who their customers are, take a look at their competition, identify resources they would need to support the new business, and help develop financial projections and marketing."
Mr. Anderson recently reactivated Anderson & Associates, a company he founded in 1989. Until last year he was president and chief executive of Procard Inc., a Colorado-based marketer of procurement card programs.
Mr. Anderson was forced to resign from Procard, and D. Dale Browning, the credit card industry pioneer and founder of the Plus automated teller machine network, succeeded him in September.
But Mr. Anderson has not completely severed his ties to Procard. He owns Procard Inc. Ltd., a subsidiary formed 15 months ago that provides procurement card services in Europe.
"I've had direct, hands-on experience in the purchasing card arena, from every aspect," Mr. Anderson said. "I know people and have relationships all across the country."
