FinTech unicorn Pleo, which offers a smart business spending solution, has partnered with open banking platform Yapily to enable simplified payments experiences for UK users.
It claimed that 82% of businesses that fail do so because of poor cash flow management. As a result, Pleo and Yapily hope to fix this problem through open banking.
Through Yapily Payments, Pleo users can top up their Pleo account directly from their bank account. This gives customers the ability to receive funds instantly, avoiding lengthy settlement times at an average of 48 hours.
As a result, businesses and employees across Europe can access faster cash injections where needed and better calculate and manage their cash flow so they’re free to pay bills promptly and be agile in seizing opportunities.
Pleo added that in the past six months, Yapily has enabled Pleo to process over £10m in open banking payments, helping thousands of businesses solve their spend management challenges and take control of their cash flow.
Additionally, Pleo customers benefit from extra security. Following user consent, a direct connection between Pleo and the user’s bank account is made by Yapily to initiate the transfer of funds, reducing the risk of card fraud and human error.
Pleo chief product officer Olov Eriksson said, “This partnership with Yapily is all about maximising the benefits of open banking technology to enable frictionless user journeys. Manual processes, settlement periods, and bottlenecks in cash flow are all avoidable obstacles. We want to enable our users to focus on what really matters: growing their business and empowering their people.”
This is the start of a roadmap for the duo, which includes geographic and product expansion.
The open-banking top-ups will initially launch in the Netherlands and France and then across Europe.
Pleo reached a $1.7bn valuation in 2021, following the close of its Series C on $150m.
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