Expend Launches Multi-Card Expense Management Solution
Expend, a UK-based expense management platform, has unveiled a new product that processes business expense data from Mastercard and Visa transaction feeds directly into its system.
The offering, called Card Connect™, aims to streamline financial management for businesses by enabling real-time expense settlement.
Card Connect allows companies to link multiple business cards to a single platform, regardless of the issuing bank.
This multi-card acceptance feature enables users to view and submit all expense claims through one application, whether the payment was made using a corporate Barclaycard or a business HSBC card.
Johnny Vowles, CEO of Expend, explains the significance of the product: “Card Connect has two important attributes. It enables companies to connect all of their business cards to our single platform, which has multi-card acceptance.
“This means that users can view and submit all of their expense claims in one app, whether, for example, they paid on their corporate Barclaycard or business HSBC card.”
The platform processes card payments in real-time, eliminating the delay between transaction and visibility. “These card payments can be viewed in the app instantly, as they happen. There is no wait time between making the payment and seeing it in the Expend app,” Johnny adds.
Streamlined expense management
Card Connect aims to address common pain points in expense management. When employees charge business expenses to their Visa or Mastercard business cards, the transaction information is processed quickly through the Expend app.
Users can add receipts, categorise expenses, and submit them for approval within moments of making a purchase.
“Managers and finance teams can view these submitted expenses from multiple cards, in one place, then send them through their approval flow for sign-off, and accounting reconciliation,” Johnny states.
This centralised approach eliminates the need for multiple logins and banking apps to collate expense data.
The platform's card-agnostic nature provides flexibility for businesses and their employees. Johnny notes: “Clients tell us that the choice of card is valuable. For example, some have a favoured business card on which they are accruing travel points or loyalty benefits.”
Reducing administrative burden
Traditional expense management often involves time-consuming processes, including manual data entry and reconciliation of card payments against bank statements.
Card Connect aims to reduce this administrative burden by automating much of the process.
Johnny explains: “With Card Connect, whenever a Mastercard or Visa Business Credit or Debit card that has been linked with the company's Expend account is used, a notification will be sent to the recipient to record the receipt on their smartphone and submit it for processing via the Expend app.”
This automation not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors associated with manual data input. The real-time nature of the system provides improved visibility for finance teams and managers, allowing for more timely and accurate financial decision-making.
Expend's Card Connect represents a step towards more integrated and efficient expense management in the fintech sector.
As businesses continue to seek ways to streamline financial processes, solutions that offer real-time data and multi-card compatibility are likely to gain traction.
“Expend Card Connect continues our mission to improve real-time visibility and zero-touch processing of personal expenses, and answers a pressing customer need,” concludes Johnny.
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