Pliant
Pliant is a Berlin-based B2B fintech (founded 2020) that provides an API-first corporate credit card and spend-management platform — combining card issuance, multi-currency accounts, and AI-assisted accounts payable — to European businesses, SaaS partners, and banks via Payment Apps, Pro API, CaaS/BaaS, and Card & Spend OS.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Pliant does
Pliant GmbH is a Berlin-based B2B fintech founded in 2020 that operates an API-first corporate credit card and spend-management platform. Its offering combines physical, virtual, and single-use Visa cards (including Platinum Business, Premium Visa Infinite, Travel Purchasing, Lodge, Fleet, Employee Benefit, Insurance Claim, and Emergency Disbursement variants) with real-time transaction monitoring, ML-based receipt matching, multi-level approval workflows, multi-currency accounts with a 2% FX margin, and AI-assisted accounts payable automation spanning SEPA, ACH, SWIFT, and local rails in 11+ currencies. The platform is exposed through four go-to-market lines: Payment Apps (end-user B2B card suite), Pro API (customer-facing REST API for programmatic issuance and automation), CaaS & BaaS (white-label and embedded card-issuing with banking-as-a-service capabilities for SaaS and ERP partners), and Card & Spend OS (a white-label technology platform for banks).
Pliant monetizes through a mix of SaaS/platform fees, interchange and FX margin, white-label licensing and revenue share on partner-issued card spend, transaction fees on AP automation and payment rails, and debt-financed credit-line revenue. Pricing is custom and quote-based across Payment Apps, Pro API, and CaaS, typically contracted on multi-year terms. Distribution runs through direct enterprise sales, a self-serve developer motion (sandbox within 3-4 days, Postman collections, SDKs), channel/partner co-marketing with integration partners (Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, BMD, Agicap, Bezala, Concur, Conferma), white-label bank partnerships (BBVA, DZ BANK, Coastal Community Bank), and mobile-app distribution on Apple App Store and Google Play.
The company holds an E-Money Institution license transferred across 25-30 EEA countries (the first digital card provider with credit-line coverage across all 30), Visa Principal Membership, and PCI-DSS Service Provider and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certifications. Following a €100M debt refinancing (January 2024), a €200M credit-capacity partnership with VVRB (September 2024), and a $40M Series B (April 2025) co-led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest, Pliant expanded into the US (February 2026) via Coastal Community Bank with Visa support, and into insurance via the April 2025 acquisition of hi.health; it serves roughly 3,500 businesses across Europe with a 200+ person team and disclosed $60.5M ARR in 2025 on consecutive years of triple-digit revenue growth.
Pliant firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pliant
- Legal name
- Pliant GmbH
- Website
- https://www.getpliant.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Pliant is a Berlin-based B2B fintech (founded 2020) that provides an API-first corporate credit card and spend-management platform — combining card issuance, multi-currency accounts, and AI-assisted accounts payable — to European businesses, SaaS partners, and banks via Payment Apps, Pro API, CaaS/BaaS, and Card & Spend OS.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pliant industry classification
Industry- Product category
- B2B Corporate Card and Spend Management Platform
- NAICS
- Credit Card Issuing (522210), Credit Card Issuing (52221), Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (522390)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159), Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Cards & Spend Controls (FSAGAJAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Card Issuing Platforms (Issuer Processing) (FSAGABAD), Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH), Cards & Issuing Management (Debit/Prepaid/Credit, Program Management) (FSAGAAAE), Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services (FSAMAIAG), Embedded Card Issuing & Card-as-a-Service (FSAGALAC)
Keywords
Where Pliant is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Pliant business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- SaaS subscription / platform fees: Recurring revenue from corporate card programs, Pro API access, and CaaS/BaaS platform subscriptions; ARR of $60.5M reported for 2025 with triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth.
- Interchange and FX revenue: Revenue from card interchange fees on payment transactions, including custom interchange fees for high-volume travel customers, plus 2% FX margin on multi-currency transactions.
- White-label and embedded finance licensing (Card & Spend OS): Revenue from banks and partners using Card & Spend OS to launch branded B2B card programs; covers SaaS licensing, custom configuration, and revenue share on card spend (claimed up to 5x card spend uplift after adoption).
- Accounts Payable automation and payment rails: Revenue from AP automation workflow (AI-powered invoice capture, approval workflows, multi-rail payments via SEPA, ACH, SWIFT, local rails across 11+ currencies) integrated into card infrastructure.
- Debt-financed credit line revenue: Revenue from revolving credit lines and lending activities; €100M debt refinancing secured in January 2024 and €200M credit capacity expanded via VVRB partnership in September 2024 to support card programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom / quote-based pricing across Payment Apps, Pro API, and CaaS & BaaS plans |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Custom pricing for CaaS partners with launch in ~5 weeks |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels10 records
Pliant product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pliant operates an API-first B2B credit card and spend management platform that combines card issuance, processing, FX and multi-currency accounts with modular layers (Support, Frontend, Backend, Regulatory, Banking) for corporations, SaaS platforms and banks. It offers end-user payment apps, a customer-facing Pro API, a Cards-as-a-Service / Banking-as-a-Service (CaaS & BaaS) embedded platform for partners, and a Card & Spend OS white-label technology platform for banks, alongside specialized card products (physical, virtual, travel, fleet, benefit, insurance) and AI-powered accounts payable automation.
Product overview
Pliant operates a B2B credit card platform with a platform-plus-modules architecture organized around four core product lines: Payment Apps (the consumer-facing credit card and spend management suite for corporations), Pro API (a RESTful customer-facing API for automating card programs at scale), CaaS & BaaS / Cards-as-a-Service and Banking-as-a-Service (a white-label and embedded card-issuing and banking platform for partners, including the CaaS partner REST API), and Card & Spend OS (a technology platform for banks and financial institutions to launch and manage white-label corporate card programs). These four core lines are complemented by a portfolio of specialized card products (Physical Visa Platinum Business, Premium Visa Infinite Business, Virtual, Single-use, Travel Purchasing, Lodge, Fleet, Employee Benefit, Insurance Claim, and Emergency Disbursement cards), and supporting services including Business Accounts (multi-currency BaaS) and Accounts Payable Automation. Together they form an integrated offering spanning end-user spend management, API-driven programmatic issuance, and partner/bank-embedded B2B payment infrastructure.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Pliant Payment Apps: Self-serve B2B credit cards and card management apps for end-business customers.
- Pliant Pro API
- Pliant CaaS & BaaS (Cards-as-a-Service and Banking-as-a-Service)
- Pliant Card & Spend OS
Products and services
- Payment Apps End-user B2B credit card and spend management suite (web and mobile apps) providing real-time transaction monitoring, AI-driven receipt management, multi-level approval and spend controls, accounting automations and integrations, backed by Visa Platinum Business and Visa Infinite Business card products for corporate customers.
- Pro API Customer-facing RESTful API for automating card issuance, transaction insights, accounting optimization, member management and custom integrations at scale, secured with OAuth2 Client Credentials and SSL/TLS, with sandbox environment, Postman collection, SDKs and event callbacks.
- CaaS & BaaS (Cards-as-a-Service and Banking-as-a-Service) White-label and embedded card-issuing and Banking-as-a-Service platform for partners (SaaS, ERP, expense, invoice management, specialised lending) to launch their own B2B card programs and business accounts, with modular layer architecture, RESTful CaaS API, SDKs, sandbox, callbacks and rate-limit support.
- Card & Spend OS White-label card and spend management technology platform for banks and regulated financial institutions to launch, scale and manage white-label corporate card and spend management programs, with a Bank Admin App, modular configuration, multi-organization management, and deployable fully managed, hybrid or fully integrated.
- Physical Business Credit Cards (Visa Platinum Business) Black physical Visa Platinum Business credit cards accepted in 200+ countries at 40M+ retailers, supporting mobile payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay), high credit limits, customizable spend controls and integrated travel insurance options.
- Premium Business Credit Cards (Visa Infinite Business) Premium metal Visa Infinite Business credit card with unlimited VIP access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide, world-class travel insurance and elevated cashback for high card spend.
- Virtual Cards Flexible, instantly issued virtual credit cards available via Payment Apps, Pro API and CaaS platforms that help scale B2B spending for corporate customers.
- Travel Purchasing Cards (TPC) Specialized B2B card for travel agencies, OTAs, TMCs and high-volume travel purchasers supporting real-time virtual card issuance, customized MCC/merchant/currency controls, exemption from 3DS, and attractive rebates via Visa interchange.
- Lodge Cards Centralized virtual lodge cards for B2B travel spend consolidation providing booking-level Visa data (flight routes, departure times, VAT), custom invoice layouts, real-time spend monitoring and integration with travel agencies.
- Fleet Cards Unified fleet card program for fuel, tolls, maintenance, EV charging and emergency expenses, supporting Visa Fleet 2.0 with detailed odometer, vehicle and driver data, offered as white-label or embedded via API.
- Employee Benefit Cards Consolidated employee benefit card program covering transportation allowances, meal subsidies, wellness benefits and fuel cards, with prepaid budget logic, category controls and white-label or embedded deployment.
- Insurance Claim Cards Specialized cards for the insurance sector to streamline claims payouts (travel, health, car, pet, household insurance) with API-driven issuance, instant virtual cards, customizable card controls and Virtual IBAN-based reconciliation.
- Emergency Disbursement Cards Vehicle-assigned physical cards for logistics fleets to pay for fuel, repairs, towing and on-the-road expenses, with Vehicle ID on the card, ATM access and real-time spend visibility.
- Business Accounts Multi-currency business accounts with local banking details, instant funding, real-time liquidity and global payments, integrated with Pliant card programs for cards, payments and accounts on a single platform.
- Accounts Payable Automation End-to-end accounts payable automation offering AI-powered invoice capture, OCR-based data extraction, multi-level approval workflows, multi-rail vendor payments (SEPA, ACH, SWIFT, local rails in 11+ currencies), virtual IBANs and ERP/accounting integrations.
Quantifiable outcome
- $60.5M ARR (2025)
- +10 more outcomes
Companies that use Pliant
Customer profileNamed customers28 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pliant technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
AI capability7 records
Feature11 records
Pliant partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
23 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- VisaflagshipStrategic partnership supporting Pliant's US market expansion. Visa introduced Pliant to issuer banks, including Coastal Community Bank, and historically helped Pliant survive the Wirecard insolvency by connecting it to a new card issuer. Pliant also holds Visa Principal Membership and participates in Visa's "Ready for Fleet" program.
- Coastal Community Bank (Member FDIC)flagshipUS partner bank issuing the Pliant Corporate Credit Card pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Banking services for US customers are provided by Coastal Community Bank in Washington state, with FDIC pass-through insurance available.
- hi.healthcoreAcquired hi.health, an Austrian digital platform connecting insurance carriers and customers, in April 2025 to expand Pliant's presence in the insurance sector with its B2B payment solutions. hi.health operates independently while leveraging Pliant's support.
- Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank (VVRB)flagshipStrategic partnership (advised by Dentons) that increased Pliant's credit capacity to €200 million and expanded currency offerings across the European Economic Area, making Pliant the first digital card provider with such EEA-wide credit coverage.
- DentonsminorGlobal law firm Dentons advised Pliant on the formation of its strategic partnership with VVRB (September 2024).
- ConfermacorePartnership to develop innovative virtual travel payment solutions, combining Pliant's B2B card platform with Conferma's virtual payment network.
- Friday Finance (formerly Airbank)coreAcquired the assets and certain employees of Friday Finance (a Berlin-based financial management platform formerly known as Airbank) in September 2023, including IP rights, software developments, trade secrets, and its credit card product. Approximately 15 employees moved to Pliant. Friday Finance ceased to exist as a brand.
- BBVAflagshipFeatured as a Card & Spend OS bank partner; BBVA uses Pliant's white-label card and spend management platform to offer B2B card programs to its corporate customers.
- DZ BANKflagshipFeatured as a Card & Spend OS bank partner; DZ BANK uses Pliant's white-label card and spend management platform to offer B2B card programs to its corporate customers.
- CirculacoreCaaS partner using Pliant's Cards-as-a-Service platform to power its travel expense management product; will process €100M in card spend in a year.
- CandiscoreCaaS partner integrating Pliant's Cards-as-a-Service into its invoice management platform; Candis's card transaction volume doubled QoQ for four consecutive quarters using Pliant.
- KlippacoreCaaS partner integrating Pliant's Cards-as-a-Service into its expense and invoice management platform SpendControl for end-to-end accounts payable.
- Scopevisio AGcoreCaaS partner embedding Pliant's Cards-as-a-Service into its ERP platform; Scopevisio highlighted that "only with CaaS was a complete integration quickly achievable".
- BezalacoreCaaS partner integrating Pliant's Cards-as-a-Service into its expense management platform; Bezala noted Pliant delivers a more efficient solution than building its own.
- BizAwaycoreCaaS partner in the business travel space; featured as a CaaS logo on the Cards-as-a-Service page.
- MobilexpensecoreCaaS partner in the travel expense management space; featured as a CaaS logo on the Cards-as-a-Service page.
- IntertourscoreCaaS partner in the travel space; featured as a CaaS logo on the Cards-as-a-Service page.
- Microsoft Dynamics 365coreAPI integration with Pliant's platform; supports accounting data sync for Microsoft Dynamics 365 users.
- Oracle NetSuitecoreAPI integration with Pliant's platform; supports NetSuite ERP and accounting workflows.
- QuickBooks OnlinecoreAPI integration with Pliant's platform; supports automated accounting and reconciliation for QuickBooks users.
- XerocoreAPI integration with Pliant's platform; supports accounting and expense workflows for Xero users.
- BMDcoreFile export/import (CSV) integration with Pliant's platform; supports BMD business accounting users.
- AgicapcoreAPI integration (PSD2) with Pliant's platform for real-time cash flow management.
Scale indicators17 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights8 records
Pliant competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Brex: US-headquartered B2B corporate card and spend management platform. Comparable to Pliant in its core product (B2B credit cards with spend controls and software), and the most direct global competitor as Pliant enters the US market.
- Ramp: B2B corporate card and finance automation platform serving US and select international markets. Directly comparable in customer base (mid-market and enterprise) and in combining cards with software-driven spend control and AP automation.
- Airbase: B2B spend management platform combining corporate cards, bill pay, and AP workflows. Closely aligned with Pliant's Payment Apps and Pro API offerings, targeting similar mid-market and enterprise finance teams.
- Pleo: European-headquartered B2B corporate card and spend management company. Closely comparable in target customer (European SMB and mid-market), product mix (cards plus expense management), and regulatory model (EMI-licensed). A direct European competitor to Pliant's Payment Apps.
- Moss: Berlin-based B2B corporate card and spend management fintech. Comparable in geography (DACH headquarters), product (corporate cards with spend controls), and customer base (European SMB and mid-market).
- Spendesk: European B2B spend management platform combining prepaid and virtual cards with AP and approval workflows. Comparable to Pliant in product surface (cards, approvals, integrations with accounting) and European mid-market focus.
- Soldo: Europe-focused B2B payments and spend management company issuing multi-currency corporate cards. Comparable to Pliant in multi-currency card issuance, EMEA regulatory footprint, and target mid-market customers.
Broad incumbents
- Marqeta: Public card-issuing platform serving fintechs and corporates with a single-tenant, API-first issuance stack. Comparable to Pliant's CaaS API in underlying technology and developer-led GTM, but with a much broader, US-centric portfolio of customers.
- Stripe Issuing: Card-issuing infrastructure product within Stripe's payments platform. Comparable to Pliant CaaS/Pro API for embedded card programs targeting fintechs and platforms, with significantly broader scheme reach and developer ecosystem.
Emerging players
- Swan: European Banking-as-a-Service platform offering business accounts, cards, and payments APIs. Comparable to Pliant's BaaS/CaaS offering for non-financial companies and SaaS platforms looking to embed financial products in Europe.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pliant social profiles
Digital presencePliant compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Pliant financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pliant leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Pliant subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Pliant funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors17 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pliant M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pliant
What does Pliant do?
Pliant operates an API-first B2B credit card and spend management platform that combines card issuance, processing, FX and multi-currency accounts with modular layers (Support, Frontend, Backend, Regulatory, Banking) for corporations, SaaS platforms and banks. It offers end-user payment apps, a customer-facing Pro API, a Cards-as-a-Service / Banking-as-a-Service (CaaS & BaaS) embedded platform for partners, and a Card & Spend OS white-label technology platform for banks, alongside specialized card products (physical, virtual, travel, fleet, benefit, insurance) and AI-powered accounts payable automation.
Is Pliant a public or private company?
Pliant is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pliant founded?
Pliant was founded in 2020. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Pliant based?
Pliant is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Pliant make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. SaaS subscription / platform fees are the primary driver. The others are interchange and FX revenue, white-label and embedded finance licensing (Card & Spend OS), accounts Payable automation and payment rails and debt-financed credit line revenue.
Who are Pliant's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Brex, Ramp, Airbase, Pleo, Moss, Spendesk and Soldo. Broad incumbents are Marqeta and Stripe Issuing. Swan is listed as an emerging player.
Does Pliant have an API?
Yes. Pliant offers two distinct RESTful APIs. Pro API is a customer-facing REST API for businesses to automate card issuance, transaction insights, accounting optimization, and member management at scale. All REST requests are SSL/TLS encrypted and access is secured via OAuth2 Client Credentials flow; additional security measures are taken for sensitive card data. It includes a sandbox environment (typically 3-4 days to set up), a Postman collection, readymade SDKs, and extensive callbacks for platform events. CaaS API is a partner-facing RESTful API for embedded card programs (Cards-as-a-Service), offering cardholder management, card lifecycle, limits, transactions, statements, detailed merchant data, and card controls. It supports both PCI-DSS and non-PCI-DSS consumers, includes a sandbox, readymade SDKs, "API recipes" for common use cases, callbacks for events (new transaction, card limit updated, new cardholder & cards), reasonable rate limits (alignable for higher volumes), and API versioning with support windows for migrations. Developer documentation is at customer-api.getpliant.com.
What industry is Pliant in?
Pliant's product category is B2B Corporate Card and Spend Management Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAJAF, Corporate Cards & Spend Controls, with a secondary code of FSAGABAD, Card Issuing Platforms (Issuer Processing). Its NAICS code is 522210 and its SIC code is 6159.