Expense reports can be a tedious and time-consuming task for many employees, leading to wasted time and errors in payment and accounting systems. In an effort to simplify this process, major players in managed travel, such as Amex GBT, BCD Travel, and SAP Concur, are integrating travel and expense functions into a single platform. Expensify recently introduced Expensify Travel, its first venture into direct booking and management of flights, hotels, and car rentals on its platform, powered by Spotnana. This move comes in response to the high demand for an integrated travel and expense solution from mid-market and enterprise customers.
According to a 2023 survey by American Express GBT, 96% of travel management professionals believe that travel and expensing should be integrated, yet only about a third said their companies are using a single integrated solution. Companies like Navan, which began expanding its expense offerings in response to the pandemic, are focused on better integration in order to automate transactions and apply policies more efficiently. Concur co-founder Steve Singh also has plans to merge expense-tracking into its offerings with the acquisition of Direct Travel, aiming to fix what he calls a “broken system” for business travelers.
Amex GBT and American Express recently unveiled a new virtual card for small- and mid-sized companies, along with tighter integration with Amex GBT’s Neo1 expense-tracking platform. Additionally, suppliers in the business travel sector are also looking to introduce booking capabilities to better personalize content for businesses. In November, Australia’s Qantas Group became the first airline to add a full online travel booking service, powered by Spotnana, allowing companies enrolled in the Qantas Business Rewards program to book hotels, cars, and air tickets with the ability to impose company policy on bookings.
The goal is to have seamless integration between travel booking and expense tracking to provide a more efficient and user-friendly experience for business travelers. Companies like Expensify, Navan, and Amex GBT are looking to address the demands of their customers for a unified travel and expense solution. The use of technology tools and platforms like Spotnana is helping to automate and streamline the process of tracking expenses and booking travel, making the overall experience better for both employees and companies. With more announcements expected later this year from travel suppliers seeking to provide better personalized content for businesses, the trend towards integration of travel and expense functions is likely to continue to grow.
