Concur Taps Into China Through Uber Rival

Travel and expense management firm Concur is expanding globally through a new partnership in China.

Reports on Monday (Aug. 8) said the company struck a collaborative deal with China’s Didi Chuxing, a mobile on-demand taxi app. The deal will look to streamline expense management for corporate travelers in the country, the firms said, and enable travelers using Didi Chuxing to automate data entry from their rides and transactions into the expense management platform.

It’s a similar deal to the one Concur has with Uber in the U.S. Concur recently expanded its collaboration with the ridesharing app (which integrates into other expense management platforms) to allow Concur corporate clients to gain insight into spend on corporate travel.

But in China, Uber and Didi Chuxing are rivals. After efforts to break into the Chinese segment, Uber has reportedly decided to back down from the market and instead take a minority stake in its competitor. The acquisition of 20 percent of Didi Chuxing was announced only days ago.

For Concur, a deal with Didi Chuxing allows the company to strike similar ties in China as it has in the U.S.

“China is the third-largest international market when it comes to Concur business traveler spend, and we’re seeing a dramatic increase in Didi Chuxing usage, which is contributing to that spend,” said Concur President of Global Distribution Mike Eberhard in a statement. “This integration not only simplifies the expense reporting process for the growing number of Concur users booking rides with Didi but also helps travel managers and administrators effortlessly keep track of employee spend.”

In another statement, Didi Chuxing Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Business Derek Du said the deal with Concur will help Didi strengthen its “international recognition.”