This interview is with Andrew Alex, CEO, Spendbase.
What were the pivotal experiences that shaped your path into SaaS, cloud cost control, and banking-adjacent software, and what lessons did you carry forward?
The idea for Spendbase was born from a simple yet widespread problem: most companies had little to no visibility into their actual software spending.
The spark came when a friend of mine mentioned he still had access to a company-paid license worth $3,000—two years after leaving his job! At another firm, I discovered they were paying for ten licenses of a $10,000 tool, though only one was in active use. In one case, a canceled marketing subscription resulted in the permanent loss of four years of valuable campaign data.
It became clear that businesses were still managing their SaaS stacks in spreadsheets—inefficient, error-prone, and offering zero clarity. That’s what pushed us to launch Spendbase in early 2023 with one clear goal: to help companies optimize software costs and usage.
What started as a simple dashboard to centralize and visualize SaaS expenses soon grew into a multifaceted platform. Today, Spendbase gives teams everything they need to stay on top of their software: tracking license usage, managing renewals, cutting waste, benchmarking prices, negotiating with vendors, and streamlining procurement so companies can avoid overspending before it even happens.
Expanding into digital banking was a natural next step, empowering customers with even more control over their finances. Spendbase users can now open corporate IBAN accounts across the EU and UK, send instant transfers via SEPA and Faster Payments, and manage team or project budgets through dedicated sub-accounts and spending limits. They can also issue up to 100 virtual cards with advanced spend controls, 3DS security, and up to 1.5% cashback on purchases.
When you meet teams who still separate “banking” from “SaaS,” what have you practically done to prove a modern platform can securely run financial processes?
I completely understand the hesitation: financial operations have traditionally lived in rigid, closed systems. The way we break that perception is by showing, not telling.
First, we lead with architecture and certification. We walk teams through how Spendbase is built on top of bank-grade infrastructure: encrypted data flows, strict access controls, audit trails, SOC 2–aligned processes, and a clear separation of customer data.
Second, we prove reliability through real use cases. We show how our platform already powers financial workflows for companies that manage thousands of transactions and vendor contracts. The moment they see automated approvals, renewal workflows, and spend controls working in real time, with fewer errors than manual processes, confidence grows.
As you replaced spreadsheets with a centralized spend management platform, which initial dashboards and controls created the fastest wins, and why?
When teams switch from spreadsheets to a centralized spend management platform, the fastest wins always come from visibility and control—two things spreadsheets simply can’t provide in real time.
Companies can finally see which tools are underused, unused, or duplicated across teams. Within days, they can reassign seats, downgrade plans, or cancel waste entirely. It’s an immediate and measurable cost win.
Apart from this, replacing email or ad-hoc approvals with automated rules drastically reduces shadow purchasing. Teams appreciate that buying becomes faster and more transparent, while finance gains consistent compliance without micromanaging.
In your first 90 days with a new customer, what’s your step-by-step playbook for uncovering cloud and SaaS savings without slowing product delivery?
In the first 30 days with a new customer (let’s talk about this cycle, as it’s more common to us), we focus on delivering measurable savings without slowing teams down.
Day 1 – Quick wins (~10% reduction): We start by creating the customer’s digital banking account and connecting their ERP. This gives us a centralized view of all SaaS and cloud spending, and immediately unlocks discounts they weren’t accessing before.
Day 5 – Early optimization (~20% reduction): Next, we streamline procurement. The client issues virtual cards to teams, receives estimated budget reductions, and implements efficient approval workflows. Spending becomes visible and controllable without creating bottlenecks.
Day 30 – Strategic impact (~30% reduction): By the end of the first month, the customer can earn up to 1.25% cashback, access significant cloud credits — sometimes up to $300,000 — and renegotiate contracts for even bigger savings. At this point, cost optimization is embedded into daily operations, not just a one-off exercise.
In vendor and license negotiations, which usage or finance signals have most reliably unlocked better pricing or terms in the real world?
The strongest signals for unlocking better pricing almost always come from usage and financial visibility, not just raw spend numbers.
Underutilized licenses are often the clearest lever: showing vendors that a chunk of seats are inactive or lightly used creates room for downgrades, seat reallocation, or volume-based discounts. Consolidated spend across teams or subsidiaries is another powerful signal: vendors are much more willing to offer enterprise pricing or bundled contracts when they see the full picture, rather than fragmented purchases.
Renewal patterns and flexible commitments also matter. Companies that can demonstrate predictable renewals or multi-year commitments often gain extended trial periods, phased billing, or better terms. Identifying redundant tools or overlapping services gives vendors a clear opportunity to consolidate accounts, often with preferential pricing to retain the business.
When rolling out virtual cards and budget ownership, what guardrails and approval flows actually improved accountability while keeping teams moving?
When we roll out virtual cards and assign budget ownership, it’s all about balancing freedom with accountability.
In practice, that means setting simple guardrails that teams actually follow. Each card has a clear spending limit by team or project, so people can move fast without waiting on approvals — but they can’t overspend. For exceptions or unusual purchases, automated approval flows route requests to finance or managers, keeping oversight intact without creating bottlenecks.
Real-time dashboards give finance full visibility, so anomalies or duplicate purchases are caught early. Policies like vendor whitelists, restricted categories, and recurring payment alerts further reduce errors and shadow spend.
The magic is that accountability isn’t something you enforce after the fact. It’s built into the process. Teams feel empowered, finance stays in control, and spend discipline just happens naturally.
What security, compliance, or data-architecture choices most directly built enterprise trust (e.g., SOC 2, PCI, data residency), and how did you implement them?
With the launch of our own virtual banking, we’ve embraced the opportunity to bring financial functionality directly into our SaaS platform. It’s impossible to manage SaaS and cloud subscriptions effectively without a financial layer of control alongside the operational one. That’s exactly what led us to create our own banking solution in the first place.
However, this convergence also brings challenges, especially around regulatory compliance and data security. In our case, building financial tools that meet global PCI DSS, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 standards while maintaining a seamless user experience required close collaboration between the tech, compliance, and product teams. We had to design infrastructure that was both agile and audit-ready. This was our first time getting certified. Since our product was still in development (it needed PCI DSS certification to go into production without a card frame), we were able to make changes to the code quite quickly and passed PCI DSS in nine months.
Looking ahead, which change in payments rails, card networks, or cloud economics do you expect to reshape spend management, and how should operators prepare now?
On the payments side, faster rails and real-time settlement are becoming mainstream. Companies will expect instant visibility into spend, approvals, and cash flow, which means spend platforms need to integrate seamlessly with multiple networks and provide near real-time reporting.
Card networks are also innovating with programmable cards, dynamic limits, and embedded rewards. Operators who leverage these features can automate compliance, incentivize efficient spending, and reduce friction for teams.
Meanwhile, cloud economics continue to evolve rapidly. Usage-based pricing, spot instances, and growing multi-cloud adoption create opportunities for optimization, but only if organizations have the data and tools to manage it proactively.
Operators should start preparing by centralizing visibility, implementing flexible controls, and designing workflows that adapt to these shifts. The companies that see spend as strategic will benefit the most.