Extend partners with SAP Concur to offer virtual-card-as-a-service

Extend, a prominent virtual card and spend management platform, has announced an integration with SAP Concur to offer its virtual-card-as-a-service within Concur Invoice. The company stated this merger as their most significant partnership to date, as it brings benefits for a great number of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the globe. This announcement comes at a time when Brex, a competitor, has launched its own campaign competing with SAP.

This new collaboration will enable the users of Concur Invoice to opt for virtual cards as a payment method. The move is expected to embed payments within the SAP Concur invoicing platform and allow companies to stick with their present banking partners. Notably, this integration is the first fully embedded virtual card experience within Concur Invoice from registration through to payment enabling users to maintain their existing corporate or purchasing card mechanisms. There will be no necessity for a new card, contract, or settlement process.

Users, after registering their Corporate Card in Concur Invoice, can now opt to use virtual cards to deliver swift and secure payments. Utilising Extend's virtual-card-as-a-service capabilities, Concur Invoice generates a virtual card corresponding to the user's registered Corporate Card. This card comes with a unique, 16-digit number, spending limit, validity date, and invoice number related to the due invoice. This service is accessible across all of Concur Invoice's features.

This development allows Concur Invoice customers to settle invoices using unique virtual cards, decided from their existing credit card. It also provides better control over payment amounts and timings, an opportunity to earn card rewards on transaction, quicker vendor payments, improved cash flow, and enhanced visibility into payment delivery.

Extend's co-founder and CEO, Andrew Jamison, stated: "Businesses want more from the tools they already use, and today's news delivers that frictionless experience. We see this as a new era for embedded finance - one where software companies can access payment rails, banks can deploy services from within software systems, and businesses can easily tap into powerful tools for managing payments."

The first bank to offer this function to its Corporate Card customers is BMO. Derek Vernon, Head, North American Treasury & Payments Solutions at BMO Commercial Bank, said: "BMO is dedicated to delivering convenient and secure tools that enable greater payment management functionality for our commercial clients. By enhancing our clients banking experience through Extend's new functionality, we are harnessing the power of payment innovation to help BMO commercial clients make progress toward their financial goals."

Extend's virtual-card-as-a-service functionality is currently available within Concur Invoice for BMO Corporate Card customers, with more banks to be enabled over the coming months. Since Extend raised its series B in 2021, the fintech has collaborated with several banks and processors such as Amex, BMO, HSBC, and TSYS. This has resulted in more than 50% of SMBs owning a corporate card that can utilise the Extend platform.