Former consumer neobank Archa pivots to launch Australia’s first smart business credit card
Fintech startup and former consumer neobank, Archa, has switched gears to launch a smart business credit card and spend management platform, said to be the first of its kind in Australia.
A Principal Issuing Member of Mastercard and with over $4 million raised in capital to date, Archa’s pivot is seeing the startup go from strength to strength, growing from 10 to 25 employees in the last 12 months – a figure that is set to reach 40 by the end of the year.
Available to small and medium-sized businesses in Australia, Archa is the only business credit card that helps manage business spending. Integrating seamlessly with a business’ accounting software, Archa enables businesses to review expenses by category; spending limits can be set and every dollar spent can be captured and reconciled in real-time.
Understanding that there is no one size fits all approach, Archa offers flexible and instant credit and a range of repayment terms to suit different business requirements.
Archa Founder and Chief Executive Officer Oliver Kidd said the company identified a noticeable gap in the B2B space after encountering their own struggles when it came to managing business expenses and financial admin.
“There was a lack of options and too much red tape when it came to business credit card requests from the big banks. Over the years, business credit cards have been commoditised as point products.
“While points sound attractive, for early stage, high-growth businesses, time is money; there needed to be a better solution that simplified financial admin to allow businesses more time to focus on the bigger picture and that is growth,” he said.
Archa’s startup journey as a former consumer neobank was instrumental in the team becoming payment experts and was the catalyst for the pivot into its expense management solution.
While not a new concept on a global stage, with the likes of Brex and Ramp dominating the US market, Oliver said Brex and Ramp’s multi-billion dollar valuations is a reflection of the demand for a product like this.
“Our beta program is currently over-subscribed, we have a waitlist of businesses wanting to try Archa, from those in the startup phase to leaders in tech and e-commerce turning over $20 million annually.
“Services like Afterpay, Square and Stripe have had immeasurable impact on a business’ ability to scale – we’re excited to be part of that pathway to success, for individual businesses, and for the large and growing SME base as the backbone of the Australian economy.”
Archa operates on a subscription model, with no interest fees and can be used worldwide, wherever Mastercard is accepted. The sign-up process takes less than five minutes and does not require a personal guarantee.
Archa is currently raising A$3m in growth capital being jointly led by BW Equities and Lazarus Corporate Finance.
