What made the armies of Carthage a possible threat to desert from battle

Carthage was a powerful city state empire in the period before the first Punic War and also in the 2nd Punic War. Although they often had Carthage born military commanders such as Hannibal and Hamilcar, the military consisted of paid mercenary soldiers and commanders. This type of military had no particular loyalty to Carthage other than that they were paid to fight. If Carthage did not meet the pay demands or the army deserted rather then be captured by Romans, Carthage was always in a situation where their soldiers would desert.