The opportunity
Over 20,000 managers and collaborators use Libeo daily to streamline expense management. But as their customer base expanded, their payment infrastructure struggled to meet the increasing demand for faster, more secure, and more user-friendly transactions. Initially reliant on third-party banking solutions, Libeo saw the opportunity to enhance their offering by offering financial services directly inside their platform.
The solution
To turn this vision into reality, Libeo turned to Swan to embed essential banking features directly into the interfaces their users already loved. By partnering with Swan, Libeo’s SME customers can now manage payments, transfers, and compliance without leaving the Libeo ecosystem.
The impact
With Swan’s Banking-as-a-Service, Libeo has elevated their platform, delivering a smoother, more efficient payment experience for SMEs. This integration has not only improved the customer journey by minimizing friction but it has also opened the door for new revenue streams. As Libeo continues to roll out banking features, they anticipate stronger customer retention, increased satisfaction, and a more competitive edge in the B2B payments market.
Libeo was founded with a clear mission: to revolutionize B2B payments for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With a diverse range of customers — from hotels and restaurants to construction and retail companies — Libeo has become an essential tool for over 20,000 collaborators and managers, streamlining their invoice collection, accounting tasks, and payments.
As their customer base grew, it became clear that relying on third-party banking partners to deliver financial services was no longer good enough. The limitations in speed, security, and user experience had become blockers to further growth.
To address these challenges and deliver a more integrated service, Libeo decided to integrate financial services directly within their platform, leading them to partner with Swan for an embedded banking solution.
“We want to build seamless day-to-day experiences for our customers. We want to remove hassle from the tasks that don’t add value to their core business mission. Swan helps us do this.” Said Pierre-Antoine Glandier, Libeo's CEO.
How embedded banking helps shape Libeo’s value proposition
Businesses waste an average of 10 hours per week manually entering invoices. But that’s not all. Managers then have to go to their banking interface to make the payments, one by one, and enter the correct invoice numbers and IBANs.
Libeo decided to combat these clunky processes by embedding payments - now including expense cards - directly into their offering. Embedded banking features allow Libeo to offer their customers a seamless end-to-end financial workflow, creating an enhanced user experience with better financial control and visibility.
Businesses today expect an integrated, automated experience to manage their finances, and embedded banking allows Libeo to meet this demand. They fully digitize the processing and payment of supplier invoices and employee expenses. So while their customers save time and enjoy a better user experience, embedded banking also strengthens Libeo’s competitive advantage. As Pierre-Antoine Glandier explains:
“We have daily interaction with our users. This presents a great opportunity to build experiences that remove hassle from tasks that don’t add value to our customers’ core business goals. Embedding banking features directly into the platform our users already love is one way we’re improving the user experience.”
Strengthening their proposition with Swan payment cards
Processing over €2 billion through its platform without an expense management solution, Libeo recognized that launching virtual and physical cards would grow their payment volumes by up to 30%. This was the next step in helping business manage their expenses more effectively. Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Libeo's Chief Product Officer shared:
“While businesses start using Libeo to manage their invoices, the real value is unlocked when they use the platform for payments. Our partnership with Swan and the launch of our payments cards allows us to deliver this impact.”
The addition of payment cards means that employees have the freedom to easily manage their expenses while managers and accounting teams maintain the right level of control and visibility over company finances.
Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Chief Product Officer at Libeo, shares; “If businesses have to manage their expenses on another platform, they have no clear centralized view of their company finances. With the launch of our cards, thanks to our partnership with Swan, we now offer both asynchronous and synchronous payment solutions, keeping everything streamlined in one platform for our customers.”
But that’s not all. Adding expense cards as a product line also has great commercial appeal. Firstly, by creating a more holistic tool that addresses additional use cases, Libeo have increased their total addressable market and market share potential. Secondly, they have unlocked an additional revenue stream.
“What I really appreciate about the Libeo payment card is its ability to centralize all my expenses in one place, which simplifies management and cuts tool costs. The fact that I can instantly fund my account by transfer is a real time-saver. The interface is very easy to use on my phone, it integrates perfectly with Apple Pay.”Renaud Jaget, CEO of Hôtel Particulier.
To learn more about Libeo's payment cards, visit their website.
Why migrating to Swan is “so worth it”
The experience of embedding banking can vary greatly depending on the provider. Libeo’s partnership with a previous Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform had become slow and complicated, causing operational bottlenecks and frustrations. Payments were often blocked without a timely notification, communication delays led to inefficiencies and promised features would be delayed or never arrive. These issues led to frustration among product and operation teams. Anne-Sophie Corbeau explains:
”We chose Swan for its fast implementation and quicker time to value. While migrating from another supplier can take time, the smooth development process and operational gains made it well worth it.”
Libeo needed a partner who matched their ambition and progressive approach, and Swan presented a compelling solution. With a fast, intuitive interface and clear documentation, Swan offered no-code tools that could accelerate the launch of new features. Anne-Sophie shared: ”Migrations include risk management. We mapped potential challenges and planned how to mitigate them. A proof of concept gave us clear timelines for tasks like KYC, signing mandates, adding customers, and processing the first payments. With this knowledge, we phased the migration and tailored it to different customer types.”
A detailed project management approach, involving compliance, product and account management teams, helped manage expectations. Though some aspects of migration are challenging, the dedicated project team clearly outlined how Swan’s superior tech, compliance, and user experience would compensate any short-term inconveniences, making it a strategic choice for long-term value.
Now, with Swan, Libeo’s Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) processes have become significantly easier, and support teams face less roadblocks than before. With the necessary upfront effort and planning, the move to Swan enables Libeo to build faster, more efficiently, and ultimately deliver a better product to their customers.
Embedded banking. Payment cards. What’s next for Libeo?
Libeo is currently at the start of their journey with Swan. As they continue to embed banking features deeper into their product, the biggest impact is currently enjoyed by their team internally. Processes are smoother, interactions are more productive, and revenue continues to flow from funds processed through Swan accounts.
The partnership between Libeo and Swan is a testament to the power of embedded banking in financial management platforms. By integrating Swan’s BaaS platform, Libeo has enhanced its offering, delivering a more seamless and efficient experience for its customers. As Libeo continues to grow and evolve, the Swan team is excited to continue working together to support their ambitions and solidify their leadership in the B2B payments space.
