Danish fintech Cardlay raises €9M, partners with Eurocard

After three years of massive investment in a white label solution for automated expense management and VAT reclaim services, the Danish fintech company Cardlay is on the cusp of an international breakthrough. Through its new partnership with the largest issuer of corporate cards in Scandinavia, Eurocard, Cardlay now makes its solution available as a build-in service to 1 million of corporate cards in the Nordic region. Simultaneously Cardlay raises $10 million (€9 million approx.) in new funding from SEB Bank and Seed Capital for further international expansion.

At SEB Kort, the issuer of Eurocard, CEO Mads Krumhardt makes no secret of the fact that the ongoing digitalization presents the banks with challenges in maintaining their core business within credit cards and in relation to the customers. This scenario requires innovative thinking.

Mads Krumhardt, said:

The whole market for corporate payment services is in transition. Card payments still have an advantage over all other solutions, especially when it’s the individual employee who carries out the transactions. But maintaining this position requires innovative thinking and faster development of new services. Our partnership with Cardlay will facilitate both.

He therefore also sees their partnership with Cardlay as a digital upgrade, now enabling Eurocard to offer customers new, innovative services. The ambition is to help all SMEs in the Nordic region streamline and minimise administrative tasks, he explains.

Mads Krumhardt explains:

Our partnership with Cardlay is closely linked to our digital strategy and gives us access to cutting-edge expense management technology in a white label solution built directly into the Eurocard Pro app. This means we can now roll out new, automated services to all businesses with Eurocard much faster, taking a more agile approach.

Cardlay’s technology now makes it possible for Eurocard to offer corporate customers an efficient solution to time-consuming challenges in handling receipts, travel expenses and business-related purchases. Administrative tasks that take up time and do not generate added value for the companies. More than half of all SMEs today manage receipts and travel expenses manually. 

Mads Krumhard, further added:.

Now we are able to automate these management processes incredibly easily through a new build-in service to all our existing corporate cards. It also means that our current ambition is for all small and medium-sized enterprises with a Eurocard to log into the Eurocard Pro app where expenses can be managed in real time with digital receipt and authorisation features – if they don’t already have a solution.

The partnership will involve the integration of receipt and expense management, including an AI robot for automatic VAT reclaim developed by PwC, as an integral part of the services Eurocard offers to all businesses on top of their Eurocard.

A market leader in corporate cards

Eurocard is one of the most widely accepted cards in the world and, with approximately one million customers in the Nordic region, accounts for more than 40% of the Nordic market for corporate cards. 

Jørgen Christian Juul, CEO and founder of Cardlay, said:

So it’s a strong customer base Cardlay now gains access to. We’re the first fintech to crack the code for complex legislation and complex IT systems in the banks. This means we can quickly add a digital layer over all banking and credit card systems. In return, the banks and card issuers can offer their corporate customers a wide range of new services directly on their existing card platform.

I addition to the breakthrough partnership with Eurocard, Cardlay also announces a new $10 million funding from both current and new investors – among others SEB and Seed Capital. A funding needed for further expansion in the European market, expanding staff and accelerating product development.

Cardlay currently employs 50 people, but in view of its partnership with Eurocard and more major agreements in the pipeline, Cardlay predicts massive growth. Jørgen Christian Juul expects to triple the number of employees and is now aiming globally.

Cardlays white label solution for banks aims at enriching all transactional data. Based on artificial intelligence, predictive analysis, and unique design Cardlay’s innovating software leverages the integration between Credit card transactions, Travel Expense Management and EU-VAT reclaim.

Image credit: Cardlay

Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more European technology news.