SINGAPORE, Oct. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments, and managing finance on digital platforms is now the new norm. Especially for cash-tight SMEs, an agile money management service is crucial to increasing overall efficiency.
Finaxar Holdings Pte Ltd's Flex by Finaxar is the first fintech platform in Singapore to offer Advanced Spend Controls to help SMEs regulate business expenditures. With Flex, SMEs can now issue Flex Visa Debit cards to employees, both physical and virtual. These cards have direct access to an SME's Flex account and businesses can set up spend controls and permissible categories to reduce the risk of misuse.
For instance, a business owner can issue physical or virtual cards for a group of employees on the Flex app to be used for transportation and block all transactions, except for use on transportation and taxis. In doing so, the employees' cards can only be used in these merchant categories. For additional control, the business owner can set a specific monthly spend limit, layered with transaction limit, which helps businesses stay within budgets. With Flex cards, employees can facilitate payments more efficiently, while empowering business owners full control of all expenses made on the businesses' behalf. This 24/7 visibility to financial transactions at a granular level on the Flex by Finaxar platform, provides SMEs with a peace of mind, so they can focus on their core activity of growing their business
Dr. Tan Sian Wee, Group Chief Executive Officer of Finaxar Holdings Pte Ltd, says: "We believe that you can't manage what you can't control. The addition of Advanced Spend Controls on the Flex app will allow SMEs to wield complete control of their business expenses from end to end."
Indeed, the ability to control and manage in real-time has never been more important given the changing COVID-19 situation, which can disrupt business plans and affect revenue and profits. Bundled with receipt capture and integration with accounting software Xero, business owners can now manage payments at one glance and in real-time. Integration with other accounting software platforms is scheduled for the next 6 months to cater to the needs of more SMEs.
Flex by Finaxar enables SMEs to obtain accurate and real-time insights for a comprehensive financial outlook, encompassing spend, payables and credit lines. When in need of urgent working capital, Flex cardholders can also access working capital up to S$100,000* in interest-free credit for up to 35 days, which can be approved within 48 hours. Billing periods are adjustable and there are no hidden fees typically associated with traditional lending.
What's more, Flex by Finaxar's partnership with ipaymy helps Singapore businesses tap into credit lines using their Visa cards to pay their suppliers for expenses such as rent, salaries, invoices and corporate tax, who typically do not have card payments acceptance. This will help businesses with tight cash flow to accommodate all types of business payments. According to a survey among 2,188 SME employees and employers, the most common payment types are payroll (100%), rental (94%), suppliers (93%) and software subscriptions (57%).
Flex by Finaxar's features target key pain points of small business owners and employees. The same survey shows that the biggest barriers to applying for a corporate credit card are card fees (72%), inadequate credit line (57%) and low acceptance among suppliers and vendors (45%). As Flex Cards are powered by Visa, they have high acceptance among suppliers and vendors. Domestic business payments are free, and businesses that procure from outside of Singapore or have regional teams can also benefit from zero forex markup.
"Providing SMEs with a solution that is simple to use, flexible, and with real-time capabilities is front and centre of our innovation," adds Dr Tan. "This will empower SMEs to stay responsive to business demands and reduce manual administrative tasks."
*Credit lines are subject to approval by Flex's partner, Finaxar Capital ll Pte. Ltd. |
About Flex by Finaxar
Founded in 2016, Finaxar is a Singapore-based fintech firm, with a mission is to eliminate friction for SMEs in the process of managing payments and gaining access to working capital. In 2020, Finaxar partnered with Visa to launch Flex Business Cards to provide SMEs with digital payments and spend management capabilities, in addition to affordable working capital to support short-term financing needs. Flex by Finaxar aims to dramatically improve how SMEs manage B2B payments and boost cash flow in a simpler, flexible, more affordable and functional way on a single, integrated platform, so they can grow without limits.
For more information, please visit: https://www.flexnow.co.
For media inquiries, please contact
Verra Asia on behalf of Finaxar
Olivia Leong
Olivia@verraasia.com
+65 98484783
