Open, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup has collaborated with Visa, a global card payment network, in order to start a suite of innovative products that include a business credit card for SMEs, payment gateway and real-time payments.
According to Visa, the business card from Open will be specifically designed to help startups qualify based on funding rather than credit history.
The business card comes with a suite of expense management tools that will help businesses manage their expenses and payouts and can be issued to employees, set limits and comes integrated with WhatsApp for seamless expense filing.
Open Financial Technologies was founded in May 2017 by Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, Ajeesh Achuthan and Deena Jacob. The startup offers a digital banking service for small businesses.
Over the last few months, Visa has been actively engaging with startups to create a slew of products.
The accounts are linked with startup’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven accounting engine that automates bookkeeping and expense management, along with enhanced APIs to drive his/her banking needs.
The credit card also comes with a reward program that lets startups earn points for their spend which can be redeemed for various software subscriptions, cloud hosting and discounts on co-working spaces.
While, according to a 2017 report by Allied Market Research, the collective customer base of neo banks is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50.6% from 2017-2020.
Apart from Open, other fintech startups with the similar objectives constitute of Invoicera, Happay, FreshBooks, Digibank, Expenzing, among many more.