Merck’s centralisation and standardisation of its cards programme

Best Payments Solution

Highly Commended Winner

Merck KGaA

Photo of Martin Seward, American Express, Andreas Monsport and Jörg Bermüller, Merck KGaA.

Jörg Bermüller

Head of Cash and Risk Management

Milan Janjanin

Head of Cash Management

Andreas Monsport

ePayments Expert

Germany

Merck KGaA is a global science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany. Founded in 1668, the €21bn enterprise operates worldwide across three main sectors – Healthcare, Life Science and Electronics – while functioning as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Electronics in the US and Canada.

in partnership with

The challenge

The surprising market exit of Merck’s major supplier for corporate and lodge cards with very short notice and strict deadlines placed significant pressure on Merck. There was a severe risk of discontinued services for all central travel bookings and payments in 27 countries via Merck’s travel agencies, if treasury had not established an alternative solution within the tight timelines between three and six months.

Furthermore, Merck was facing a very fragmented provider landscape for its credit card operations worldwide, having more than 45 different card programmes across 65 countries worldwide. This led to inconsistent policies, payment processes and various IT interfaces, resulting in inefficiencies in expense management, reporting and reconciliation.

The solution

In order to match Merck’s heterogeneous needs, group treasury carried out an RFP seeking the best financial partner for a unified global lodge and corporate card programme. A comprehensive back-testing of potential acceptance gaps with all participating suppliers was a major part of the evaluation. Concerns, especially regarding American Express (Amex) card acceptance, were taken very seriously, and a collaborative data analysis based on a three-year SAP Concur data extract was jointly conducted through various rounds of evaluation. Ultimately, the analysis revealed that Amex covers 95% of Merck’s major acceptance points. Furthermore, Amex confirmed that it would continue to work with Merck to further reduce the remaining acceptance gaps. As a result, Amex was selected as being the most dynamic and flexible to fulfil Merck’s needs as well as providing a special onboarding treatment and dedicated implementation support. Merck’s overall strategy is to establish one unified global card platform harmonising policies and processes for the whole Merck group. Therefore, Merck has developed a clear roadmap to migrate all card programmes worldwide.

As a result, Merck was well prepared to react quickly when the market exit of its major supplier was communicated. Overall, 27 countries have been transitioned to Amex swiftly in just five months simultaneously for 47 entities, mainly in APAC and LATAM, with very demanding KYC requirements due to strict local regulations.

Best practice and innovation

The judges commended this as a solid case study on the centralisation and standardisation of its cards programme including the selection and implementation of a new partner in a short timeframe.

The implementation so far demonstrates a profound partnership that could make the impossible possible. With strong commitment on both sides, Merck and Amex executed within tight timelines and large scope with a structured roll-out plan, strict adherence to deadlines and overall exceptional transparency.

The project demonstrated agility and effective project management despite stringent local regulations and exemplifies a collaborative effort that transformed a complex challenge into a successful implementation.

Key benefits

Exceptional implementation (budget/time).
Process efficiencies.
Cost savings.
Future-proof solution.
Centralisation of roles and responsibilities.
Improved visibility.

The rapid roll-out of Amex central payment solution for the first 47 entities clearly illustrates that the execution of Merck’s Global Card Strategy is already contributing substantially to its objectives – such as reducing the number of credit card suppliers, streamlining processes, improving liquidity, saving time, minimising interfaces, and enhancing visibility and control over expenses.

Overall, the current progress has laid a strong foundation for a long-term partnership with Amex.

Martin Seward

American Express

Congratulations to Merck on this well-deserved recognition in the Adam Smith Awards. We’re delighted to see our partnership recognised and to celebrate what our teams achieved together through the rapid implementation of a global corporate card solution across multiple markets. On behalf of the American Express team, congratulations to colleagues across the Merck treasury, procurement and travel teams, and to everyone involved in making this success possible. We look forward to building on this partnership in the years ahead.

in partnership with

The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2026 awards attracted 635 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards

Home