Pleo moving from interchange to finance OS

Pleo’s mix shows that the real product is not just a company card, it is a finance workflow that turns every employee purchase into both software revenue and payments revenue. The card brings daily usage and interchange, while subscriptions monetize the controls layered on top, like approvals, bill pay, multi entity support, and treasury tools. That combination lets Pleo grow with customer spend, while also raising revenue per customer as finance teams adopt more modules.

• Interchange heavy models can grow fast, but software is what improves retention and multiples over time. In the broader corporate card market, the center of gravity has shifted from pure card volume toward higher margin subscription products layered onto cards, bill pay, and accounts workflows.
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• This is why Pleo keeps expanding beyond expense capture. Recent launches in cash management and multi currency accounts add more places to earn subscription fees and payment economics, while making the product more useful for controllers and CFOs, not just employees filing receipts.
• The comparison set matters. Card led players like Brex historically leaned much more on interchange, while workflow first platforms like Teampay argue the sticky part is the approval and reconciliation software, not the card itself. Pleo sits between those poles, using the card to acquire customers, then selling deeper finance software into the base.
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The next step is a larger share of wallet per customer. As Pleo adds cash, FX, payables, and entity management, more revenue should come from software and adjacent financial services, which makes the business less tied to card swipe volume and more like a full finance operating system for European SMBs and mid market companies.