Case study

Float uses Visa virtual card to give SMBs quick access to credit

Eliminating the long wait for business card accounts in Canada, Float uses virtual cards as a business differentiator.

Challenge

Float identified a crucial gap in the marketplace: many business owners and finance teams were stuck with slow, outdated and manual spend management processes that lacked the capabilities they needed to successfully manage modern finances.

Traditional business account opening and card issuance in Canada often takes longer than many SMB teams expect, and brings several difficulties, including:

Manual approval processes that slow down purchasing
Security concerns and limited visibility into cashflow due to card sharing
Receipt coding and reconciliation processes requiring employees to chase down paperwork
Tens or hundreds of hours spent manually updating spreadsheets to gain a clear view of account balances

Demand was high for a more powerful digital spend management solution, on par with the sophisticated software offerings available for marketing, sales, product and engineering teams.

Solution

Float launched with the goal of delivering a unified, user-friendly digital spend management experience that connects virtual cards and physical cards to proprietary spend management software, giving business owners better control and visibility over their business spend.

SMB virtual cards are the foundation of Float’s core offering. Float addresses the long wait to open business card accounts, providing virtual card access to approved clients within three business days. SMBs can issue unlimited virtual and physical cards on-demand, helping to streamline employee spend for subscriptions, work-from-home equipment, marketing campaigns, travel and entertainment, healthcare and various other business purchases.

Float software further extends virtual card capabilities by allowing SMB owners to control a wide range of spend permissions, set separate spend limits for different merchant categories, easily break out spend data for different categories, automate receipt collection and coding, and even lock cards if receipts aren’t submitted.

Results

Uptake of Float’s SMB virtual card offering has been swift. For many SMBs, gaining access to credit in today’s rapidly evolving economy has proven challenging, and Float has provided a valuable alternative to traditional lenders. The Visa brand helped bring a high degree of trust and recognition when Float was first starting out, and Visa high acceptance rates also helped make Float a preferred solution for their business customers.

Float continues to leverage virtual card capabilities to exceed SMB customer expectations. Float works closely with customers to help guide development of new services and functionalities, pushing the value that virtual cards provide to new heights and making it easy for SMBs to manage spend the way they prefer. Float will continue to work with Visa to take advantage of the latest virtual card technologies and offerings to deliver more value for their SMB customers.

About Float

Float offers digital spend management solutions to help SMBs streamline payments and expense management processes. Located in Canada, Float empowers thousands of SMBs by helping them simplify payments so they can focus more time on growing their businesses.

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