Chrome River, Yatra Partner For India’s Growing T&E Market

Corporate expense management firm Chrome River is collaborating with India-based travel company Yatra, the companies announced on Monday (May 14).

According to a press release, Yatra will link customers based outside of India — whose employees travel in the country — with Chrome River’s expense management solution as part of a broader travel booking and spend management platform, offered via Yatra’s Self Book platform.

Yatra Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dhruv Shringi said in a statement, “As we continue to grow in the corporate travel segment, we are teaming up with Chrome River to further drive efficiencies in travel bookings by automating the expense management process. The depth and reach of its network and solutions is unparalleled in the industry. Our technology platforms complement each other, and together we will offer services best suited to the needs of Indian travelers to ultimately enhance their travel booking experience.”

According to Chrome River Co-founder and CEO Alan Rich, India’s corporate travel market is growing at a pace nearly five times to that of Europe’s, with corporate travel spend increasing 12 percent a year.

“This growth, combined with a need for many Indian companies to improve business processes in areas such as travel booking and expense management, offers and excellent opportunity for Chrome River and Yatra,” he said in a statement.

Rich added, “In addition to the need for increased control and visibility into spend, companies are looking for expense reporting solutions, which work across any mobile platform. With this partnership with Yatra, organizations can benefit from these best-of-breed technology solutions, combined with local expertise that understands the specific needs of Indian organizations.”

Chrome River introduced enhanced mobile capabilities of its solution last year, launching B2B invoice payment capabilities through mobile devices for accounts payable professionals.

India’s expense management market is ripe for disruption, according to Yashwanth Madhusudan, co-founder and CEO of India industry player Fyle.

“Expense management [in India] has been manual for a really, really long time,” he told PYMNTS in a recent interview. “So much so that people believe nothing can be done to improve this process.”