Virgin Money is to form a new fintech partnership with Expend, adding an Expense Management service to its new business banking proposition.
Virgin Money is now to extend the Expend service to its business current account customers as part of its improved digital-first proposition. This ‘one-stop shop’ approach will encourage SMEs and employees to submit and manage their expenses, whilst saving businesses time, boosting efficiency and increasing transparency in their business spending processes.
This mirrors a similar move by Virgin Money to streamline the services it’s offering its customer base. Back in October, it launched its ‘Sustainable Business Coach’ app in partnership with Future-Fit Foundation. The app has been put together to help businesses to adhere to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) credentials; a hot topic in the industry that surely has a big year ahead.
Graeme Sands, Interim Head of Business Banking at Virgin Money, said: “Expend offers a service that we know will provide real value to our customers. Businesses want to be able to do tasks quicker and more effectively – and this expense management service is exactly the kind of help many of them need. Not only will it solve a core business pain point, but it will also enrich the data they have, giving an accurate view of their expenditure.
“Working with our fintech partners is playing a vital role in transforming our business bank. We have a new market-leading current account for SMEs, M Account for Business, and there is a lot more to come in 2022. We’re really proud of the work we’re doing with our fintech partners, helping us to help our customers run their businesses in the best way.”
Johnny Vowles, founder and CEO of Expend, added: “This partnership with Virgin Money is a real statement of our intent to bring powerful spend and expense management tools into the hands of small and medium businesses. Being a part of this innovative project with Virgin Money is the perfect way for us to further our mission to truly automate complex processes for businesses to help maximise their time and money savings.
“Expend aims to help to close the gap between banking and accounting by simplifying things for businesses, helping companies to better understand their financial position, therefore enabling them to act upon that information efficiently.
“Historically expenses have been arduous and boring. As a cutting-edge Fintech, Expend is changing that with our drive to improve customers’ experiences with our financial products. By working closely with Virgin Money, we’ll be accelerating that process.”
