Cardlay

What Cardlay does

Cardlay is a Danish fintech founded in 2016 that builds a cloud-native, API-driven white-label spend management platform for banks, card issuers, fleet operators, fintechs, and vertical SaaS providers. The platform layers a corporate-facing frontend (card management, expense management, configurable approval workflows, and real-time controls) on top of existing issuer, processor, and network infrastructure, with transaction enrichment connecting scheme data, KYB/KYC providers, and 15+ ERP/accounting systems (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Visma, Fortnox, E-conomic, Maconomy, Unit4, Uniconta, and others). Its core differentiator is enabling partners — including Citi, SEB, AirPlus, Mastercard, Visa, Conduiit, FLEET220, and SAS — to launch or modernize commercial card and expense offerings under their own brand without replacing core systems, competing against digitally native challengers like Brex and Ramp by serving incumbents. Cardlay also sells Cardlay Expense, a direct corporate expense product built natively for AirPlus and priced at €6 per user per month for Standard tier (€4 for non-card users, with a €50/month floor), with quote-based Enterprise and Global tiers.

The company monetizes primarily through subscription-based white-label platform licensing on per-seat or contract terms, with multi-year enterprise agreements for bank and network partners and an annual billing cycle for direct Cardlay Expense customers. Revenue also flows through a Visa referral relationship that leverages Visa's commercial card issuer network for additional distribution. The product surface has expanded to include the Spencer AI expense assistant (computer vision OCR, anomaly detection, and auto-fill, claiming up to 85% error reduction), fleet and EV charging integrations with CO2/ESG reporting, and embedded card programs targeting both SMEs (via SAS EuroBonus) and the creator economy (via Conduiit). Headcount is 30+ across 9 nationalities, offices are in Odense and Copenhagen, and the company recently entered the US market in March 2026 while operating across 52 markets globally with cumulative funding of more than $29 million from SEB Venture Capital, Global PayTech Ventures, and Seed Capital.

Name

Cardlay

Legal name

Cardlay A/S

Website

https://cardlay.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cardlay is a Danish fintech (founded 2016) that provides a white-label, API-driven spend management platform enabling banks, card issuers, fleet operators, and tech platforms to embed card and expense management under their own brand, serving Citi, SEB, AirPlus, Visa, and Mastercard partners across 52 markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Spend Management Software

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210), Credit Card Issuing (52221)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159), Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Cards & Spend Controls (FSAGAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH), Corporate Cards & Expense Solutions (T&E, purchasing, fleet) (FSABAIAG), Card Issuing & Virtual Cards (lodge cards, single-use, tokenization) (THALAHAB)

Keywords

• Corporate spend management
• White-label fintech platform
• Embedded card issuance
• Expense automation software
• Commercial card infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Odense

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. White-label platform licensing / SaaS subscription: Cardlay generates revenue primarily through white-label platform licensing to banks, fintechs, fleets, and tech companies. Partners pay to embed Cardlay's spend management frontend under their own brand. Pricing is typically per-user, per-month (seat-based subscription), with tiers for standard, enterprise, and global deployments.
2. Per-user subscription (Cardlay Expense): Cardlay Expense (direct-to-buyer product) is priced at €6 per user per month for the Standard tier (card users), with non-card users at €4/user/month. Enterprise and Global tiers are priced on request. A €50/month floor applies for fewer than 10 users. Billed annually.
3. Visa referral and network partnership revenue: Cardlay operates in a referral relationship with Visa that combines its white-label spend management platform with Visa's payment network, data capabilities, and market position. Revenue is generated through Visa's commercial card issuer referral ecosystem.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cardlay provides a white-label, cloud-native, API-driven spend management platform that enables banks, card issuers, fintechs, fleet operators, and tech platforms to embed integrated card and expense management under their own brand. The platform combines real-time transaction enrichment, AI-powered receipt automation via Spencer, configurable approval workflows, and pre-built ERP integrations. Cardlay also sells Cardlay Expense, a direct corporate expense management product built natively for AirPlus, available in Standard, Enterprise, and Global pricing tiers.

Product overview

Cardlay is a Danish fintech company offering a white-label spend management platform with two primary product lines: the core Cardlay White-Label Spend Management Platform and Cardlay Expense (a corporate expense management platform built natively for AirPlus). The platform operates on a modular, cloud-native, API-driven architecture that serves multiple segments including banks, fleets, tech companies, and businesses of all sizes (micro/SME, mid-market, and enterprise). Key modules include Card Management (digital/physical company cards with real-time controls), Expense Management (real-time tracking, travel expenses, VAT reclaim), and Spencer (AI-powered expense assistant for receipt capture and automation). The Cards-as-a-Service offering enables partners to embed commercial card programs under their own brand. The company positions itself as infrastructure that allows financial institutions to compete with digital-native challengers like Brex and Ramp without replacing their existing core systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cardlay Expense: Corporate expense management platform built natively for AirPlus, delivering frictionless end-to-end reconciliation, ERP-ready data, and market-leading UX for finance teams.

Products and services

• Cardlay White-Label Spend Management Platform Cloud-native, modular, API-driven white-label platform that enables banks, card issuers, fintechs, fleet operators, and tech platforms to embed integrated corporate card and expense management under their own brand without replacing core infrastructure. Includes transaction enrichment, real-time card controls, configurable approval workflows, and pre-built ERP integrations.
• Cardlay Expense Corporate expense management platform built natively for AirPlus customers, delivering frictionless end-to-end reconciliation, ERP-ready data, real-time transaction feeds, digital Smart Receipts, and approval workflows. Available in Standard (€6/user/month), Enterprise, and Global pricing tiers. Used by over 7,000 users worldwide.
• Spencer AI Expense Assistant AI-powered expense assistant that automates receipt capture and review, auto-fills expense fields from receipts, detects errors and mismatches, and flags missing information in real time. Claims to reduce expense processing errors by up to 85% and is available as part of Cardlay's white-label spend management platform.
• Cards-as-a-Service White-label infrastructure enabling tech companies and financial institutions to launch embedded commercial card programs under their own brand, connecting issuers, processors, and payment networks for turnkey card deployment. Powers partnerships including Conduiit (US) and SAS EuroBonus (Scandinavia).

Quantifiable outcome

• AI-powered automation reduces expense processing errors by up to 85%
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration20 records

AI capability7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• NordiskacoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2026Nordiska provides the embedded finance infrastructure powering the SAS EuroBonus Executive Business Card, with Cardlay contributing the expense management platform. SAS positioned this as among the first global airline loyalty programs to offer a business credit card enabled by embedded finance infrastructure.
• SAS (Scandinavian Airlines)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026SAS launched the EuroBonus Executive Business Card powered by Nordiska's embedded finance infrastructure and Cardlay's expense management platform. The World Elite Mastercard product targets Scandinavian SMEs, offering up to 25 EuroBonus points per 100 SEK/DKK/NOK spent.
• ConduiitflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Cardlay's first US embedded commercial card and spend management program, launched in partnership with Conduiit in March 2026. Conduiit is a financial platform serving the creator and entertainment economy, offering Cardlay's commercial card and spend management to creators, production companies, and distributed teams on the Mastercard network. Additional North American partnerships are reportedly in development.
• FLEET220coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025FLEET220 launched 'ODOS,' an open-loop mobility payment card developed with Visa Fleet 2.0, Enfuce (card issuer), and Cardlay (expense management platform). The solution manages all mobility expenses and supports corporate decarbonization with real-time control, compliance, and emissions reporting for European markets.
• VisacoreTechnology or Integration · 5 December 2024Cardlay and Visa announced a collaboration in December 2024 combining Cardlay's white-label spend management platform with Visa's payment network, data capabilities, and market position. The referral relationship enables Visa's commercial card issuer clients to leverage Cardlay's platform for embedded spend management. In April 2025, Cardlay also joined the Visa Ready Partner Program (specifically Visa Ready for Fleet), deepening the collaboration in the mobility segment.
• AirPlus (formerly Eurocard)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Cardlay and AirPlus (formerly Eurocard) formed a strategic partnership in 2019 to modernize expense management by building it around the card transaction itself. Cardlay Expense is built natively for AirPlus, delivering real-time transaction feeds, Smart Receipt integration, and ERP-ready expense data. This partnership is foundational to Cardlay's Scandinavian market presence and product development.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationCardlay operates on the Mastercard network for card issuance and processing. Its platform supports Mastercard Smart Data and Mastercard commercial card programs, with cards issued on the Mastercard network for partners including Conduiit (US) and SAS EuroBonus (Scandinavia).
• SAP ConcurcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAP Concur partners with Cardlay on virtual payments and integrated solutions for commercial payments. SAP Concur's market leadership in travel and expense management creates a strategic integration with Cardlay's spend management platform.
• CiticoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCiti uses Cardlay's white-label spend management platform to simplify budget integration, authorization, payments, and reconciliation for commercial cards. Citi Head of Cards Francesco Cerlienco is quoted as a customer reference on Cardlay's website.
• SEB (Kort)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEB Kort (commercial cards division) partners with Cardlay to offer corporate clients new features around corporate payments. SEB Kort CEO Mads Krumhart is quoted on Cardlay's website as a customer reference, expressing ambitions to simplify client workflows.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brex: US-based corporate card and spend management platform serving startups to enterprises. Cardlay explicitly positions against Brex in US expansion messaging; both offer AI-powered expense automation and ERP integrations at scale.
• Pleo: Danish-founded corporate card and expense management platform serving SMBs and mid-market. Closest geographic and product peer to Cardlay — both sell card-based spend management with expense automation and ERP integrations into European markets.
• Ramp: US-based corporate card and spend management platform focused on mid-market and enterprise. Direct competitor named by Cardlay; both pursue card-native expense workflows with heavy AI and automation investments.
• Airbase: US-based corporate card, bill pay, and expense management platform targeting mid-market. Comparable unified spend management approach with AI automation and ERP integrations.
• Moss: Berlin-based corporate card and spend management platform serving European SMBs and mid-market. Comparable product offering with virtual cards, expense management, and ERP integrations.
• Soldo: UK/Italian corporate card and spend management platform with multi-country European presence. Comparable multi-currency, multi-entity card and expense offering targeting mid-market and enterprise.
• Spendesk: European spend management platform combining corporate cards, expense management, and accounts payable. Direct competitor in the European mid-market with overlapping AI expense automation and ERP integration capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• SAP Concur: Global leader in travel and expense management, owned by SAP. Listed as a Cardlay strategic partner; serves enterprise T&E needs at much larger scale with overlapping virtual payment and expense automation capabilities.
• Coupa Software: Large enterprise business spend management platform covering procurement, invoicing, and expense management. Broad incumbent with overlapping corporate card and expense automation features at enterprise scale.
• Emburse: Enterprise expense management and spend optimization platform offering cards, expense automation, and AP automation. Larger incumbent in the expense management category with overlapping capabilities to Cardlay's modules.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardlay-aps
• Xx.com/cardlay

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cardlay