Most people think of a credit card as a personal thing. Behind the scenes, a whole class of spend management fintechs sells cards and software to companies, promising to turn the messy business of employee spending into something tidy. Brex is among the best-known names in that space, and its revenue story offers a good way to understand how spend management fintechs make money.
What spend management is
In a typical company, spending sprawls. Employees buy software subscriptions, book travel, order equipment and pay vendors, often using different cards or personal funds that are later reimbursed. Finance teams then spend days matching receipts and chasing explanations.
Spend management fintechs centralise this. They issue physical and virtual cards, set limits per person or team, capture receipts automatically, categorise transactions and sync everything to the accounting system. The pitch is visibility in real time instead of surprises at month end.
How spend management fintechs earn money
The main income source is interchange. Each time a card is used, the merchant pays a small fee, a portion of which goes to the card issuer. At large volumes, this adds up. If a business spends heavily on its cards, the platform shares in the fee.
Other revenue lines typically include:
- Software subscriptions for expense management, bill pay and travel booking
- Interest on balances and, in some products, on cash held in accounts
- Fees on international payments or foreign exchange
- Partnerships and rewards programmes funded by merchants
Spend management fintechs often try to shift from card-based revenue toward software, which has more predictable income and is less dependent on spending volumes and interest rates.
Who the customers are
These spend management fintechs first targeted startups, which often struggled to get conventional corporate cards without personal guarantees. Offering credit based on cash balances or business fundamentals instead of founders’ personal credit was a clear selling point. Over time, they moved up-market to mid-size firms and larger enterprises, who want policy controls, integrations and detailed reporting.
That move is not simple. Large organisations buy differently: long sales cycles, security reviews, bespoke integrations. In exchange, accounts tend to be bigger and stickier. Tech and AI companies often adopt such tools because they have many subscriptions and cloud costs spread across teams.
The competition for spend management fintechs
The field is crowded. Traditional banks offer corporate cards, accounting vendors add expense features, and several fintech rivals sell similar products. Customers compare on features, price, reward rates, quality of support and ease of integration with their existing finance stack.
Because the underlying card networks are the same, differentiation among spend management fintechs comes from software. How well does it handle approvals? Can it enforce policy automatically? Does it cut down on manual bookkeeping? Those are the questions that decide switching decisions.
What buyers should compare
Credit model. Is the limit based on cash held, revenue or a personal guarantee? Know what happens if your business hits a rough patch.
Rewards versus fees. Points and cashback look attractive, but check software fees and costs for extra users.
Integrations. Does it connect with your accounting system without manual workarounds?
Controls. Can you issue single-use cards, set merchant restrictions and freeze a card instantly?
Support and security. Fraud monitoring, reliable customer service and clear terms matter when something goes wrong.
How to read their revenue claims
When a company talks about growth, ask what the number includes. Card volume, revenue and profit are very different things, and spend management fintechs sometimes quote the first because it is the biggest. A platform that earns most of its income from interchange behaves differently from one that sells software, and the mix tells you how exposed it is to a spending slowdown.
If you are choosing for a small company, start with our comparison of corporate cards for small business owners. To see how the plumbing works under the brand names, read about card issuing as a service. Both help you judge which spend management fintechs are building a durable business.
Risks and realities
Spend management fintechs are sensitive to the economy. When companies cut spending, card volume falls. When interest rates move, income from deposits changes. Credit losses are a risk, particularly with young businesses. The healthiest platforms balance growth with prudent underwriting, and are transparent about how they make money.
Regulation also plays a part. Many of these firms partner with banks to issue cards and hold funds, meaning that the banking partner’s compliance and stability affect the product.
One more practical point: involve your accountant or bookkeeper in the decision. They will be the ones living in the tool every week, and they often spot problems with category mapping, tax handling or month-end close that a demo never reveals. Ask for a sandbox or a short pilot with one team before rolling cards out to everyone.
The big picture
Corporate spend management is a good example of fintech maturing. The flashy early phase was about offering cards that traditional banks would not. The mature phase is about building software that finance teams rely on every day. Revenue growth for spend management fintechs depends less on glamour and more on whether customers find that their books close faster and fewer receipts go missing. If you run a business, the best advice is to run a small trial, count the hours saved and then decide.
