Booking platform Engine has added a corporate card targeting
the small and midsized market, the company announced.
The Engine X card, which the company is offering in
partnership with Fifth Third Bank and Visa, allows customers to issue both
physical and instant virtual cards to employees as well as temporary virtual
cards for contractors and guests. Companies can integrate the card with their
travel policies, setting spending limits or restricting spending or merchant
categories.
Engine already processes "quite a lot" via its
direct bill product, and the card offering "is an extension of that,"
Engine founder and CEO Elia Wallen said. "We're trying to drive a modern
spend management platform, deeply integrated with travel and a world-class
rewards program."
The rewards program includes up to 10 percent rewards—the
"X" in Engine X is meant to refer to the Roman numeral for 10, Wallen
said—on travel booked via Engine and 1.5 percent on other purchases, and it
does not require an annual membership fee, according to Engine.
Wallen said the rewards are a key element to the offering.
"You have legacy high-reward [offerings], and you see
new, modern fintech companies that are getting away from rewards and are really
leveraging the tech and the AI," he said. "For us, we're trying to
build out both, so you don't need to compromise."
Data insights include spending trends, and it will soon also
include AI recommendations on how companies can improve spending—for example,
identify areas where costs have increased or where spending is out of line with
benchmarks, Wallen said. "It's basically smart alerts, real-time
visibility and intelligent reporting and insights," he said.
The card offering already has been made available to some
customers on "a very limited basis," and it is now widely available
to customers in the United States, Wallen said. The company reports a
700-company waitlist for the corporate card.