Spendesk Connect 2024: A new era of innovation and transformation

Spendesk Connect 2024 was an exciting moment for us to share with you, our customers, showcasing what we’re building for you now and how we’re actively shaping the future of spend management. In this inaugural edition, industry leaders and partners gathered to unveil our new financial infrastructure, showcase our latest innovations, and introduce an exciting new product.

At the heart of our vision is a simple yet profound principle:

Explore the highlights and key moments from our groundbreaking event and learn how Spendesk is revolutionising spend management for businesses.

1. Launching Spendesk Financial Services for customers in EEA

Stephane Dehaies, CEO of Spendesk Financial Services, and Thomas Douchez, Director of Business Development France, Belgium & Luxembourg at Visa, introduced a new chapter in Spendesk’s evolution: the launch of Spendesk Financial Services, our own licensed payment institution.

With Spendesk Financial Services, Spendesk has transitioned from being ‘just’ a spend management platform to also having its own separate payment institution and platform, licensed by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) in France. 

What does this mean for our customers?

• More control: By having our own regulated payment institution and infrastructure, we control the next steps in our evolution. We’ve become a leading member of the Visa network for card issuing, giving you access to all the advantages that come with Visa. 

• More efficiency: Spendesk Financial Services is designed to improve efficiency at every level. From better acceptance rates of our payment methods with localised BINs to enhance payment performance and fraud detection, our platform is built for high-quality service. Our users can rely on faster, more responsive payment experiences, backed by our in-house expertise.

• More innovation: Innovation remains at the heart of Spendesk. Customers already benefit from advanced card features, such as user-defined payment settings with customisable limits and the ability to activate or deactivate cards instantly. This flexibility is just the beginning as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in spend management.

Security is our top priority

At Spendesk Financial Services, we take your security seriously and have implemented extensive measures to keep your funds safe. From compliance with EU regulations like PSD2 to real-time fraud monitoring through tools like VMARS (Visa) and PRISmop (BPCE PS), we’re proactive in adapting to evolving threats.

We’ve also built robust security features into the Spendesk platform, including Strong Customer Authentication and dual-approval workflows for payments. Real-time fraud monitoring allows us to block specific merchant categories and limit exposure to risks.

2. Introducing our new UK infrastructure with Adyen

Becky Dutta, VP of Customer Success and Revenue Operations at Spendesk, and Hemmo Bosscher, SVP of Platforms & Financial Services at Adyen, shared the exciting developments shaping Spendesk’s UK future. Building on the theme of transformation, they introduced a key part of the company's ongoing evolution: a new strategic and technical partnership with Adyen, a global leader in payment services.

A transformational partnership with Adyen

One of the biggest steps in our evolution is our new partnership with Adyen, a leading payment service provider. Founded in 2006 in Amsterdam, Adyen works with global brands like eBay, LinkedIn, and Uber. Adyen stood out with top marks for vision, innovation, and payment performance optimisation in The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payment Providers 2024 report. With their expertise in security and compliance, Adyen emerged as the perfect partner for Spendesk. Their technology now lies at the core of Spendesk’s UK operations.

How will this new partnership benefit our customers?

• More control: Adyen's technology and support team are in-house, providing fast, quality service for all users.

• More flexibility and automation: Customers may have already noticed enhancements, such as the high level of automation in the KYC flow. We’re working together on the functionalities that are most important to our customers. 

• More innovation: Customers already benefit from advanced card features, such as user-defined payment settings like limits, activation, and deactivation. This partnership unlocks new possibilities, including the launch of Apple Pay for UK customers next month, with plans to expand to France, Germany, and Spain in early Q1 2025.

3. Spendesk’s new feature launches and winter product roadmap

Launching our new infrastructure was a significant milestone and one that unlocked accelerated innovation for our customers. Clarisse Vignols, Senior Group Product Manager at Spendesk, presented a series of recently launched new features and our highly anticipated product roadmap. With a focus on innovation and user-centric design, Clarisse shared insights into the exciting developments on the horizon for Spendesk.

Let’s take a quick look at what’s new and improved:

1. A new interface and navigation

• Vertical navigation for improved usability

• New Expenditures and My Company tabs

• Revamped settings and easier budget management

2. Straightforward multi-entity management

• View all entities in one dashboard 

• Access real-time insights

• Coming soon: Aggregated wallet amounts and account statement exports

3. Even faster monthly close

• Sage 100 Integration: Sync settings, transactions, and documents.

• Flexible exports: Customise and export files faster, with no row limits

• Coming soon: More flexibility by editing payables after export and new AI features to run checks on payables and receipts for faster closing

4. Smarter workflows and spend limits

• Dynamic approval flows by role

• Share approve payable permissions

• Coming soon: Dynamic approval flows by spend types and cost centers and set spend limits on expense categories

5. Expanded payment capabilities

• Coming soon: Recurring virtual cards for quarterly or annual subscriptions and multi-use virtual cards for projects and travel to be used online or on the go.

6. Strengthening the Accounts Payable module

• List items in PO requests for better control and process efficiency.

• Generate and customise PO PDFs directly within Spendesk.

• Coming soon: 3-way match and auto-approval if a PO is attached.

Our new features and improvements demonstrate our unwavering commitment to innovation, keeping your finance team ahead of the curve. We're thrilled to introduce these capabilities in our winter roadmap. Stay tuned to our Product Announcements hub for quarterly updates.

4. Introducing Spendesk Procurement – Revolutionising procurement for SMBs

Marine Desoutter, Product Marketing Lead at Spendesk, and Julien Chriqui, Procurement Product Lead, unveiled Spendesk Procurement, a game-changing addition to Spendesk’s platform.

This new solution promises to transform how SMBs manage their procurement processes, delivering enhanced control, automation, and efficiency from intake to payment.

Why procurement? Why now?

After a decade of leading the charge in spend management, Spendesk has gained deep insights into its customers’ pain points. Many issues arise early in the procurement process, well before payments are made. Traditional procurement tools aren't designed for SMBs – they often lack the flexibility and simplicity required by smaller businesses. This is where Spendesk Procurement excels.

Procurement pain points for SMBs

Marine highlighted compelling statistics about procurement challenges faced by SMBs:

• 800 suppliers on average per SMB.

• The cost of processing purchase requests can range between £40 and £120, driven by the number of departments (finance, procurement, IT, legal, etc.) involved.

• The rise in SaaS subscriptions adds complexity to renewals, security, and international payments.

In today’s globalised, decentralised workforce, procurement is about more than just buying the right product. It’s about ensuring compliance, security, and privacy while managing costs effectively. Often, the result is a procurement process fraught with frustration, inefficiency, and missed savings opportunities.

The case for modern procurement

Marine introduced the concept of modern procurement, a new approach designed to address the specific needs of SMBs. Unlike traditional procurement systems built two decades ago, modern procurement solutions are:

• AI-driven for smarter decision-making

• User-focused, enabling seamless and intuitive collaboration across departments

• Fully integrated with a company’s existing tech stack to ensure smooth workflows

Modern procurement empowers businesses to decentralise their processes while maintaining control and oversight. This philosophy aligns with Spendesk’s approach: making processes collaborative, intuitive, and scalable.

Spendesk Procurement: One platform for total spend control

The highlight of the event was the introduction of Spendesk Procurement, merging procurement and spend management into one solution. 

Key features:

• Automation from intake to payment: Spendesk automates each step to ensure nothing is overlooked.

• All-in-one platform: Integrating procurement with spend management allows businesses to handle their entire budget in one place, simplifying processes and reducing the need for multiple tools.

• Superior user experience: Designed for ease of adoption, Spendesk ensures all departments, from Finance to IT, can collaborate effortlessly without burdensome learning curves.

• Payment flexibility: Whether paying via virtual cards, managing subscriptions, or paying invoices directly, Spendesk offers businesses flexibility and control over their payment methods.

The future of procurement is here

As Marine wrapped up the presentation, the message was clear: Spendesk Procurement is designed to meet the evolving needs of SMBs in today’s fast-paced, globalised world. By combining the best of spend management with modern procurement, businesses can gain total control over their spend from start to finish. Stay tuned for more updates on Spendesk Procurement and start reimagining your procurement process today.

5. Inspiration from everywhere: Fireside chat with Pauline Déroulède

Innovation goes beyond products, and at Spendesk Connect, we explored the importance of resilience and leadership. In a fireside chat, Rodolphe Ardant, Founder of Spendesk, sat down with Paralympian Pauline Déroulède to discuss how lessons from athletics can apply to the finance world. Pauline shared how determination, adaptability, and perseverance are essential to both sports and business, offering inspiring insights for finance leaders.

They delved into themes like mental preparation, the experience of competing at Roland Garros during the Paralympic Games, and her journey of resilience, as captured in her newly released book, (Im)possible. Her story underscores how the right mindset and supportive community can help us overcome even the most challenging circumstances.

Final thoughts

As Spendesk Connect 2024 comes to a close, it’s clear that we’re entering a transformative period for spend management and procurement. With new infrastructure in the EU and UK, new features recently released, an exciting winter roadmap, and the introduction of Spendesk Procurement, we continue to lead the way in simplifying and streamlining business operations. 

These innovations are designed to empower finance teams with greater control, efficiency, and flexibility. The future of spend management is here, and it’s more dynamic than ever. Ready to see it in action? Request a demo today and experience the future of finance firsthand.