Business Banking Co Pleo Shifts To Credit Cards

Pleo, a business banking company, has announced that it is pivoting its business model in partnership with JPMorgan and Mastercard, and will now offer company credit cards instead of prepaid spending cards, according to AltFi. Pleo had previously offered the spending cards, and combined them with smart expense reporting to help company owners and managers keep a better eye on company spending.

CEO Jeppe Rindom announced the move on Thursday (Jan. 30).

“Collaborating with JPMorgan and Mastercard will … help us move from our initial version of a product — the prepaid card — to something much more scalable for the future, and more widely accepted: corporate credit cards,” he said.

The move will differentiate Pleo from its current rivals, such as Tide and Soldo, and bring it into a new category of business.

In May, Pleo raised $56 million in a Series B funding round, and said it would use the money to move beyond the countries it already serves, like Denmark, the U.K., Sweden and Germany.

“While we are competing with banks in this one area, we are not aiming to become one,” Rindom said in a statement at the time. “We remain committed to providing the best product in the market for business spending. We haven’t touched the funds from our Series A round less than a year ago, yet we see enormous potential and demand for Pleo.”

In September of 2016, Pleo raised $3 million in a funding round led by Founders, and backed by Kirkbi, William Demant Invest and Bestseller.

There will be other new features stemming from the expansion and partnership as well, Rindom said, like “out-of-pocket expenses and mileage, subscription management, instant credit approvals and invoice payments.”

Pleo said it will launch in Spain and Ireland this year, and two additional unnamed markets by the end of 2020.