Podcast: Scaling a TMC built on modern infrastructure
Spotnana powers Expensify’s new travel offering
May 08, 2024
By Sarosh Waghmar
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We are a company built on principles, and one of the most important principles we live by is our promise to “build longer tables, not higher walls.” For me, these words capture our ongoing commitment to driving innovation in partnership with others and through open technology that is available to everyone.
Spotnana is on a mission to modernize the infrastructure of the travel industry, and our API-first travel platform is designed to be white-labeled, embedded, and deeply integrated with other software products, websites, and mobile apps.
We take the word “platform” very seriously and recognize that to truly be a platform company, we must provide exceptional technology that is designed from the ground up for others to build upon.
Today I’m excited to announce that Expensify is using Spotnana’s platform to create a new travel offering seamlessly embedded in the Expensify user experience.
Creating a one-stop shop for travel and expense
Expensify helps individuals and businesses worldwide simplify how they manage money through corporate cards and expense management.
Expensify has created a one-stop shop for travel and expense management through our partnership. Built on top of Spotnana’s Travel-as-a-Service platform, Expensify Travel provides access to global travel inventory at competitive prices, seamless global servicing, and Spotnana’s industry-leading self-service capabilities for managing exchanges, cancellations, and unused ticket credits. Travel managers also benefit from rapid global deployment and powerful tools for managing policies, approvals, and more.
“Book your trip in minutes, we’ll handle the rest. We’ve made it effortless for members to search and book flights, hotels, cars, and trains—all at the most competitive rates available,” said David Barrett, Expensify’s CEO. “Our early release lets business travelers manage it all in one place, with real-time support, customizable rules, and the option to assign virtual travel cards to employees. We couldn’t be more excited for the future of Expensify Travel in partnership with Spotnana.”
Today’s early release version includes extensive travel booking and management capabilities in the Expensify web and mobile apps. In the long term, Spotnana’s cloud-based platform will be integrated directly into New Expensify, Expensify’s new chat-based super app.
Powering innovation with an open platform
I’m incredibly proud of the flexibility we have built into Spotnana’s Travel-as-a-Service platform for channel partners. Spotnana’s architecture is API-first and built with microservices and extensible data frameworks, making it easy to build deep integrations with other systems.
Each system component has its own API, and our user interface is built on top of these APIs as a separate and distinct layer. Any company can use our underlying platform to create an entirely new user interface on top of the same APIs. Companies can also use our embeddable UI components and configurable white labeling capabilities to deliver a seamlessly integrated solution at a much faster pace.
Even better, these options can be used in combination, allowing partners to get to market quickly with a new travel offering and build a deeper integration over time.
Our partners avoid the cost and time to develop an entire travel solution from scratch, which demands extensive industry knowledge and a large team of engineers. In addition, they benefit from a steady stream of new feature enhancements delivered through a roadmap that they help shape.
For Expensify, we are also operating as a TMC behind the scenes and providing global servicing to their customers in a completely white-labeled fashion. Since we provide a single, unified platform for travelers and agents, we can easily support this. Our experienced agents already use the same Spotnana platform that powers Expensify Travel and operate as an extension of Expensify’s team.
Achieving more together
I’ve always believed that we can achieve more together than alone. Partnering with the exceptional leaders at Expensify to provide their customers with next-generation travel experiences has been a true pleasure, and I look forward to growing our partnership in the years ahead.