Pemo launches VISA payment card for UAE SMEs

Leandra Monteiro

Pemo, UAE based spend management platform Empowering businesses in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), announced the launch of its latest product, available in the form of physical and virtual VISA payment cards.

To meet the requirements of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the company began joining the first batch of UAE companies in May 2022, allowing early adopters to access the platform’s beta features, including digitized invoicing, automated approval processes, one-click Invoice payments and real-time cash flow monitoring. With the introduction of prepaid smart cards that can be distributed to employees, users can now upgrade to the full Pemo experience.

Ayham Gorani, Co-founder and CEO, Pemo Said: “Managing effective employee expense and expense reporting in a company is a challenge any accountant, finance director and general manager can face. From day one, our mission at Pemo has been to eliminate administrative tasks and foster healthy consumption by culture to solve this problem. With the introduction of the Pemo card, businesses now have a frictionless, end-to-end solution that automates the classification of employee expenses, captures receipts for each transaction, and provides management teams with insight into the business Full visibility of spending.”

Pemo has teamed up with NymCard, a MENA-based plug-and-play Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider, to deliver a comprehensive and fully compliant digital banking experience by issuing secure virtual and physical cards that have been integrated into the company’s spend management platform.

NymCard CEO Omar Onsi said: “We are excited to enable innovative products like Pemo on our modern BaaS platform. Pemo is addressing a major pain point in the region by offering SMEs prepaid and virtual cards to simplify their expense management process , making it simpler and easier.”

Business owners and management teams fund their Pemo accounts via bank transfer and then invite employees to create individual accounts. The platform then determines the fee policy for each user. The virtual card can be used for online purchases and subscriptions, while the physical card can be used in stores, and both versions offer the primary account holder the flexibility to set parameters such as unlocking access to selected suppliers or limiting total spend. Receipts for all transactions can then be uploaded to the Pemo platform, enabling a holistic view and real-time tracking of expenses through a shared dashboard.

The Pemo card will initially be rolled out across the UAE, with the entire platform expected to roll out to other regional markets such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan over the next 18 months. The latest development follows Pemo’s $12 million seed round announced in May 2022.