Citi and Barclays Back Financial Data Collection Firm Validis

Financial data collection firm Validis has received strategic investments from Citi and Barclays.

The two banking giants will use U.K.-based Validis’ platform to automate financial monitoring, deliver underwriting-ready data faster, and reduce application and credit review time, the company said in a news release Tuesday (Jan. 14).

“We’re eliminating historically time-consuming and high-cost data processes, particularly for complex commercial clients, enabling lenders to make faster, smarter decisions based on clean, reliable data,” said Validis CEO Michael Turner.

According to the release, the investment allows Validis to accelerate its growth while benefiting from the guidance of two global banks, and to spend more on product innovation and expanded sales and marketing efforts.

“The depth and quality of Validis’ data enables real-time access to standardized financial information, enabling proactive financial support to our commercial bank clients,” said Andrew Murray, head of institutional strategic investments at Citi. “Improving credit process automation and the scope and timeliness of data available helps capital flow more freely into businesses of all sizes and close critical funding gaps across the market.”

Writing about the working capital landscape late last month, PYMNTS noted that — according to findings from PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The 2024-2025 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index” — the Working Capital Index score increased an impressive 7% in 2024, fueled in part by a 21% surge in early invoice payments and a 16% jump in strategic use of external capital.

“This shift was particularly evident in the healthcare sector across Europe and Asia-Pacific, where strategic working capital deployment has skyrocketed by 41%,” PYMNTS wrote. “But what’s really turning heads is how expansion-minded companies — those with $50 million to $1 billion in revenues — are leveraging this financial muscle.”

What changed things? The rise of virtual card payments, which increased in usage by 32% and moved from being a simple vendor payment method to a sophisticated working capital solution.

“They’re the superpower of working capital,” Darren Parslow, global head of Visa Commercial Solutions, said of virtual cards in a November interview with PYMNTS.

Parslow noted that this shift reflects the larger trend in corporate finance of using virtual cards to optimize cash flow, extend days payable outstanding and streamline working capital.

By marrying spend management with credit solutions, companies expand their capacity to turn transactions into opportunities for liquidity and growth than traditional solutions allow, in part by seeing virtual cards as both a payment and financing tool.

“The key is to be proactive,” Lauren Hewings, head of working capital solutioning at Visa, told PYMNTS. “With the right strategies in place, middle-market corporates can leverage working capital to thrive in a competitive global market.”