January 22nd, 2021
A third of UK businesses expect employees to pay for business purchases leading to “greater financial stress” and a “loss of company trust”, according to research among over 3,000 business professionals across Europe.
The UK falls behind European businesses in expenses, as 32 per cent of UK employees are expected to pay for business purchases with their own money, against just 7 per cent in Germany and 10 per cent in Spain.
Just 22 per cent of UK businesses trust employees with a company credit card, while only 18 per cent currently have digitised expense management processes, according to the YouGov research commissioned by spending management FinTech Pleo.
The research was carried out across the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Spain, with over 1,000 responses from UK professionals.
While the UK average for professionals paying expenses out of their own pocket was 32 per cent, this rose to 38 per cent for those at firms employing over 1,000.
Only 18 per cent of UK firms have digital processes in place for expenses, whereas in Spain expenses are completely digitised at 30 per cent of firms.
Jeppe Rindom, chief executive at Pleo, said: “It’s concerning that employees are still expected to pay with their own money for business purchases, but it is also surprising the amount of innovation that is still required in this space.”
This article was originally published via FS Tech
