Paris & Berlin, Thursday 16 July
For multinational companies, the biggest challenge in business travel finance is no longer making payments. It’s processing them efficiently once they reach the finance department.
Modern payment solutions have successfully automated the movement of money. Yet finance teams continue to spend countless hours reconciling transactions because critical invoice and tax information often arrives after the payment has already been processed.
To address this challenge, Trevium, S4BT’s (Solutions for Business Travel) financial technology platform for business travel, and fintech company Pliant have entered into a strategic partnership. The first milestone of the collaboration is the launch of Guaranteed Transaction Enrichment, a fundamentally new approach to corporate travel billing designed to ensure finance teams receive complete transaction data before billing begins. It is the first in a series of new capabilities the two companies are developing together to simplify corporate travel finance.
The consequences are significant. In many ERP and accounting environments, even a single incomplete transaction can interrupt automated accounting workflows. Incomplete transactions are diverted into manual exception queues where finance teams must investigate missing invoices, validate VAT information and correct accounting records because transactions can be processed.
As travel volumes grow, these exceptions become one of the largest hidden operational costs within corporate finance.
Unlike traditional payment workflows, where billing begins before all financial information is available, Guaranteed Transaction Enrichment ensures billing only starts once transactions contain complete finance-ready data.
By ensuring booking data, traveller information, invoice details and VAT information are available before the billing process begins, organisations can dramatically reduce manual reconciliation, improve Straight-Through Processing rates and minimise costly exception handling.
Christopher Hecht, Global Payment Solutions Officer at S4BT, explains:
“For years we’ve focused on automating payments. But moving money has never been the real challenge. The real problem begins when finance receives incomplete data. One missing invoice or incomplete VAT record can interrupt automated accounting processes and force finance teams into manual exception handling. We’re changing that.
Guaranteed Transaction Enrichment ensures that finance receives complete, finance-grade transaction data before billing takes place. Instead of asking accountants to repair incomplete transactions, we prevent them from entering the accounting process in the first place.”
The partnership combines the complementary strengths of both organisations. Pliant provides the payment infrastructure and manages payment execution across the transaction lifecycle. Trevium enriches every payment with booking intelligence, traveller information, structured invoice data, VAT details and financial metadata before billing starts.
Together, both companies create a new financial workflow where payment execution and financial data quality are equally important.
Lukas Gottschick, Chief Commercial Officer at Pliant, said:
“Businesses increasingly expect payments to deliver far more than the movement of funds. They need reliable financial data that supports automated accounting, compliance and reporting. Together with Trevium we’re enabling a new generation of finance-ready payment processes that reduce operational complexity while improving financial accuracy.”
The solution is designed specifically for large multinational organisations operating complex finance environments with multiple tools and ERP platforms, where even a small number of incomplete transactions can create significant manual work.
Initial deployment focuses on hotel payments, with the underlying architecture designed to support additional travel categories including air, rail and other travel suppliers.
As business travel continues to evolve, Trevium and Pliant believe the future of corporate payments will no longer be measured by how quickly money moves, but by the quality of the financial data accompanying every transaction. Guaranteed Transaction Enrichment is the first step towards that future.
About Trevium
Trevium is S4BT’s financial technology solution, providing the business travel industry with secure, integrated and AI-powered solutions. Its platform combines virtual payments, reconciliation, invoicing, VAT recovery and automations to simplify corporate travel payments worldwide.
S4BT (Solutions for Business Travel), brings together eight specialist brands and more than 700 employees, delivering connected technology solutions across the entire business travel ecosystem, from hotel sourcing and travel booking to payments, reporting and other services for TMCs, corporate clients and travelers.
About Pliant
Pliant is a global fintech specializing in B2B payment solutions. With our modular, API-first platform, we empower businesses to streamline spending, enhance cash flows, and seamlessly integrate payments into their financial workflows. Our solutions are particularly valuable for industries with complex payment needs, helping companies achieve greater efficiency, control, and profitability.
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Berlin, Pliant supports over 5,000 corporate customers and more than 30 partners globally. As a licensed e-money institution (EMI), we issue credit cards in 12 currencies across 30+ countries, ensuring that payments become simpler, smarter, and more efficient worldwide.
Learn more at www.getpliant.com
Media Contacts
Rebecca Xerri
Global Chief Marketing Officer
rxerri@sforbt.com
Christoph Brack
Chief Marketing Officer
christoph.brack@getpliant.com
