The Card-First Approach to Spend Modernisation

UK finance leaders recognise that spend management modernisation is overdue. Yet many expense and supplier payment workflows remain heavily manual.

Our research suggests that card-led payments are emerging as a potential practical starting point for helping improve how organisations manage spend, indicating that finance leaders are increasingly turning to cards to enhance control, generate structured payment data and support working capital flexibility without replacing existing finance infrastructure.

This paper explores why a card-first approach is emerging as a practical first step toward more connected finance operations.