How Endowus Democratised Wealth Management in SEA, Supercharged by Aspire’s All-in-one Business Account

The Company: Singapore’s leading robo advisor for CPF and cash savings

With over S$1 billion in assets in just 20 months, Endowus has grown to become the leading digital advisory platform in Singapore. Specialising in making the investing experience simple and accessible to the everyday investor, they are also the first and only wealth platform that allows Singaporeans to invest their cash, Central Proivdent Fund (CPF) savings and Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) contributions.

The Challenges: Keeping finance costs low as they scale across markets

With their sights set on new markets, Endowus needed an all-in-one business account that is both scalable as they expand across the region and has the capability to keep finance costs low as they continue to grow.

#1 Scattered financial service providers

In terms of scalability, Endowus’s financial service needs kept increasing as they grew and entered new markets. Hence, they required an all-in-one business account that will give them easy access to a wide range of financial services from borderless payments, to multi-user access and more.

Before Aspire, they would need to onboard individual financial service providers to cater to their exact needs. The team faced trouble keeping track of all the spending activities as it would be scattered across the different providers. This resulted in data that may not be consistent or accurate. Fortunately, Endowus is able to use Aspire’s all-in-one finance stack to consolidate all their financial software in one place.

#2 Business finance-related fees start to add up

On the other hand, as a fast-growing wealth management platform, keeping costs low is crucial. Leaning on traditional banks tends to be costly as they charge fees for business accounts, multiple users, corporate cards, etc.一racking up to a hefty sum. Moreover, perks from corporate card spend are not typically tailored to business expenses such as SaaS products and subscriptions, which results in fewer opportunities to save.

#3 Inability to streamline accounting workflows 

In the past, using multiple accounting software would be a hindrance to the finance team’s productivity. They would have to juggle between keeping track of team’s growing finance activities such as employee claims and expenses on multiple softwares while also making sure it is kept updated with the bookkeeping software.

As Endowus’s headcount grows, this only adds more to the finance team’s workload, causing them to spend more time than necessary for their month-end close.

The Solution: Aspire Business Account, Cards and Xero integration that scales with Endowus

Modern businesses need modern solutions. Endowus needed a solution that could catapult their success to the next level. With more cross-border transactions, expense processing, and marketing spend expected as a result of this expansion, the team needed a business account that’s tailored to their cost-saving needs. This is where Aspire’s accounts and cards, with low and transparent international transfers, come in handy.

‍#1 Aspire business account to keep track of spends in one place

With the Aspire Business Account, the Endowus team could now explore a wealth of personalised features like automated bill pay, accounting software integrations, and multi-user access that cater specifically to all their business needs. 

The Aspire Business Account allows businesses to keep track of every spend activity that takes place across all departments and cardholders for more organized and insightful spend management. The real-time data would inform them on how to better control spending and set adjustable spend limits to avoid unwanted instances such as accidentally going over budget on paid ads. 

‍#2 Issued Aspire Cards for organized, controlled spending

Instead of relying on just one card for all purchases, the team is now empowered to make their own spending decisions by delegating Aspire cards to key members. With siloed spending now a thing of the past, Endowus is able to make payments and move forward faster than ever before.

In addition, the Aspire Card comes with cashback on SaaS and marketing spends. Cashback provides Endowus with increased cost savings, which will then be reinvested into the business to further fuel its skyrocketing growth. 

#3 Integrating accounting software with Aspire for lighter finance workload

Since using Aspire, closing the books every month is no longer a manual chore that impacts productivity一thanks to its handy integration with online accounting software, Xero. 

This effectively eliminates the painstaking double upload of activities such as bill payments and forex transfers on separate software. Aspire’s seamless sync with Xero allows the team to export customizable statements with a few clicks, shaving precious hours of their week. Thanks to automation, preparing monthly financial statements is now a piece of cake.

Choosing Aspire as their preferred business account has reaped a slew of benefits for the Endowus team. From streamlining their finances with Aspire’s spend management feature to receiving 1% cashback on all qualified digital marketing and SaaS spend, Aspire continues to play a vital role in the way fast-growing companies like Endowus manage一plus enjoy a boost in cost savings on一their business finances.