Automating and managing expense claims
Imagine there was a tool that allowed you to make your expense claim process a seamless and easy one… SpendCo does just that. As an expense management tool, SpendCo is a web application that connects to your Investec account, using Investec's secure authentication, and can retrieve any credit card information associated with the account.
The challenge
Through our close partnership with Investec and their “Investec Developer” programme, Platform45 and Investec identified a need for streamlined expense management within businesses.
From this collaboration, SpendCo emerged - A web app that directly integrates with Investec and your Investec cards, empowering businesses to manage monthly expenses per team with ease and accuracy.
Juggling manual expense tracking, tedious reconciliation processes, and limited financial visibility are common challenges that drain time and resources.
SpendCo aims to solve and simplify reconciliation through a centralised system, offering a comprehensive solution for both tracking and managing team spending to ensure all costs are accounted for at month end.
The solution
We wanted to deliver an easy-to-use expense tool to Investec employees and clients.
From the perspective of programmable banking, we embraced the challenge to leverage Investec’s open banking API to build SpendCo. SpendCo allows users to establish budget parameters, restricting transactions to specific dates and types.
This feature enables users to lock down cards to predefined transactions and merchants, ensuring precise control over spending.
Once a user has connected their Investec account, they can assign SpendCo users to available cards, and the system will begin to track what transactions are occurring on the card.
When a user swipes their card, a notification of the Merchant, amount and date is sent to SpendCo. The system then sends out an email to the user associated with the card, asking them to fill in the expense report, providing the category of the spend, description and to upload a photo or image of the transaction, so that this can be recorded and paid by the finance team.
The user will receive daily notifications from the system to complete the form and submit it. Users with administrator access will be able to see all the pending and completed transactions on their dashboard.
SpendCo is a testament to the true power of collaboration not only internally but how we're constantly exploring ways to enhance experiences for our clients and their clients.
Sheldon Mayhew SpendCo Product Owner
In summary, SpendCo offers businesses the capability to:
- Make transactions effortlessly, all directed to SpendCo for streamlined processing.
- Easily attach and submit invoices for each transaction.
- Classify your transactions for better organisation and tracking.
- Set monthly budgets and limits to stay within your financial goals.
- Keep an eye on your credit card activity with real-time updates.
- Receive instant notifications to ensure your team stays informed the moment a transaction occurs.
SpendCo is a testament to the power of technology to simplify, exemplify and empower both businesses and individuals. Platform45 remains dedicated to setting exemplary standards of innovation as we continue to solve real-world problems for real people.
It has been an honour working with P45 and this collaboration has only served to strengthen our relationship with your amazing team. From the very start of our Programmable Banking initiative, the P45 leadership team have worked alongside us to co-create innovative groundbreaking solutions. You have all been instrumental in supporting our Investec Developer strategy and I’m excited to see what strides we make in the coming months! To everyone interested in the future of banking... watch this space!
