Security of Expense Management and Card Issuing Platforms
- Michał Stachera
- Sep 2
- 11 min read
Updated: Sep 8
A modern expense management and card issuing platform operates at the nexus of corporate finance and sensitive personal data. Consequently, its security posture must be robust, multi-layered, and built on a foundation of proactive defense. A secure platform like Sparados is not just compliant; it is designed to anticipate threats, leverage the expertise of the broader financial ecosystem, and transform security from a cost center into a powerful competitive advantage. Let’s go through the critical components that define a mature security program, offering actionable insights for due diligence and product strategy.
Table of Contents:
What are the Foundational Pillars of Fintech Security?
Before detailing specific features, it is crucial to establish the core principles that must guide the design and operation of any secure financial technology. Security is not a one-time feature but an ongoing process rooted in fundamental doctrines.
The CIA Triad represents the three foundational pillars of information security: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. These principles serve as the guiding mandate for building trust in digital financial systems.
Confidentiality involves preserving authorized restrictions on information access and disclosure. For an expense platform, this means protecting sensitive data such as employee names, personal financial details, bank account numbers, and corporate card information from unauthorized parties. Phishing attacks, which trick users into revealing login credentials, are a common threat to confidentiality.
Integrity is the principle of guarding against improper information modification or destruction. In an expense management system, this is paramount for ensuring that expense reports, digital receipts, and financial records remain accurate and cannot be tampered with by unauthorized individuals. Examples of integrity attacks include the tampering of financial records or the injection of malware into a system.
Availability guarantees timely and reliable access to information and systems for all authorized users. A DDoS attack, which floods a server with traffic to make it inaccessible, is a classic example of an availability failure. For a card issuing platform, a service outage could cause significant disruption to business operations and critical financial processes, making availability a non-negotiable requirement.
These three principles are inextricably linked. A security failure in one pillar can have cascading effects that compromise user trust in the others, even if they remain technically secure. For instance, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that brings down a platform (a failure of availability) could lead users to question the confidentiality and integrity of their data, assuming it is also at risk. This highlights the importance of addressing all three pillars equally to maintain customer confidence and resilience.
What are the Key Features for a Secure Platform?
Moving from core principles to practical application, a secure platform must possess a suite of technological features that operationalize these security doctrines.
Advanced Authentication and Access Control
Robust authentication is the first line of defense against unauthorized access. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is no longer an optional feature but an enterprise-grade requirement. MFA requires users to combine verification technologies from at least two different categories: something they know (e.g., a password), something they have (e.g., a mobile device), and/or something they are (e.g., a biometric scan). It is essential to choose robust MFA methods over less secure ones.
Biometric Authentication represents a key component of modern MFA and is a major trend in fintech security. Technologies like fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, and behavioral biometrics provide a seamless user experience while significantly enhancing security. Modern platforms have already integrated biometrics for secure logins and one-tap payment authentication, illustrating its dual benefits of increased security and user convenience.
Robust Data Protection Architecture
A secure platform must protect sensitive data throughout its entire lifecycle.
Data Encryption: This is a cornerstone of fintech security. All data transmitted to and from the platform must be secured with Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3). Similarly, all sensitive data stored in databases must be encrypted at rest, with a baseline standard of AES-256 or an equivalent. The platform should also enforce a policy of regular key rotation and maintain secure key storage with a separation of duties.
Tokenization: For any platform handling cardholder data, tokenization is a strategic cornerstone of its security architecture. This process replaces sensitive information, such as the Primary Account Number (PAN), with an algorithmically generated, random string of numbers called a token. Since tokens have no mathematical relationship to the original data, they are rendered useless to fraudsters even if compromised. By storing only these tokens, a platform drastically reduces its liability in the event of a data breach and significantly lessens its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance burden. This transforms a complex and costly regulatory challenge into a more manageable operational task, freeing up resources and enhancing overall security.
Proactive Fraud Detection and Prevention Features
Modern platforms must move beyond simple, rule-based systems to actively detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
AI and Machine Learning (ML) for Anomaly Detection: Platforms are leveraging AI and ML to analyze large datasets and identify emerging fraud patterns in real time. By continuously learning from industry-wide trends and billions of transactions, these systems can flag suspicious activity with a high degree of accuracy. For example, AI algorithms can identify common forms of expense fraud, such as inflated claims, duplicate submissions, or personal expenses submitted as business-related costs.
Behavioral Biometrics: This technology adds a continuous layer of security by monitoring user behavior, such as typing speed or swiping patterns, for anomalies that could indicate an account takeover.
The implementation of these features, particularly automation, is not just about efficiency. It is a fundamental security control that mitigates the human error and lack of oversight that enable the most common types of internal fraud. By automating processes such as receipt capture, spending limits, and real-time approvals, the platform acts as a robust defense mechanism, directly addressing vulnerabilities linked to outdated, manual systems.
Feature | Security Principle(s) Upheld | Threat Mitigated |
Multi-Factor Authentication | Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability | Phishing, Credential Theft, Insider Threats |
Data Encryption (TLS, AES-256) | Confidentiality, Integrity | Man-in-the-Middle Attacks, Data Breaches |
Tokenization | Confidentiality, Integrity | Card-Not-Present Fraud, Data Breaches |
AI/ML Fraud Detection | Confidentiality, Integrity | Internal Expense Fraud, Card Fraud |
Role-Based Access Control | Confidentiality, Integrity | Insider Threats, Privilege Creep |
How to Extend Security Through the Ecosystem: Strategic Partnerships
A truly secure platform cannot be an isolated fortress. It must recognize that its security posture is directly enhanced by the strength of its strategic partners. This approach allows a platform to leverage the world-class expertise and infrastructure of the broader financial ecosystem.
Core Financial Network Partnerships
Partnerships with major card networks like Visa and Mastercard are non-negotiable for a card issuing platform. These networks have made massive investments in cybersecurity, with Visa, for example, having invested more than USD 12 billion since 2020 in cybersecurity and fraud prevention. By partnering with these networks, a fintech platform gains access to their sophisticated cybersecurity services, extensive fraud prevention expertise, and a global network for secure payments.
Cloud and Infrastructure Providers
The choice of a cloud provider is a foundational security decision. Building on a secure, compliant cloud platform like AWS is paramount. A financial services institution can "inherit" a robust, resilient, and compliant infrastructure from a leading cloud provider, which maintains over 143 security certifications and compliance standards. AWS offers a comprehensive suite of services, including Amazon GuardDuty for intelligent threat detection and AWS Security Hub for centralized security alerts, which a platform can integrate to strengthen its own security posture. This strategic decision allows a company to build its services on a foundation of "resilience by design," which helps meet growing regulatory requirements for operational resiliency.
Integrations with Specialized Security Services
Beyond core infrastructure, a platform should integrate with specialized, third-party security services. An example is the Galileo Payment Risk Platform, which uses AI to analyze billions of transactions and over 130 million unique spending patterns to provide real-time risk intelligence. By integrating with such services, a platform can access a wider pool of data and a more adaptive defense against fraud than any single company could gather on its own.
This strategic partnership model allows a fintech company to acquire mature security, operational resilience, and compliance from industry leaders, significantly reducing its own development costs and time-to-market. The platform's security is thus a function of its entire ecosystem, a critical business strategy that moves beyond a simple vendor relationship.
Strategic Partner | Value to Security Posture |
Card Networks (Visa, Mastercard) | Provides access to vast fraud prevention expertise and services; ensures secure, global payment processing. |
Cloud Providers (AWS) | Inherits a robust, resilient, and compliant infrastructure; offers a suite of services for automated security checks and continuous auditing. |
Fraud & Identity Services (Galileo) | Offers real-time, AI-powered fraud detection that leverages a wider pool of data and spending patterns. |
Compliance and Governance
While a platform may claim to be secure, independent, third-party validation provides credible, verifiable proof. Compliance is not merely a regulatory burden; it is a powerful market differentiator and a non-negotiable baseline for security.
PCI DSS: The Standard for Cardholder Data
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a globally recognized standard designed to protect cardholder data. Compliance is mandated by major credit card brands and requires organizations to build a secure network, protect stored data via encryption, implement strong access controls, and regularly test security systems.For a card issuing platform, achieving PCI DSS Level 1 certification is a powerful signal of its commitment to safeguarding sensitive financial information. Failure to comply can result in significant fines and the loss of the ability to process card transactions.
SOC 2: A Report on Trust and Controls
A Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) Type II report is a gold standard for independent validation.This report is an attestation from a licensed CPA firm that measures the design and effectiveness of a company's security controls over an extended period, typically three to twelve months. A Type II report is considered more credible than a Type I report, as it verifies that a company's controls work "in practice, not just in theory". For a B2B fintech, a SOC 2 Type II report can be a powerful market differentiator that accelerates sales cycles by weeks or even months. It gives a potential client's security team a single, comprehensive report to review, eliminating the need to sift through hundreds of individual evidence requests during due diligence.
GDPR: Securing Employee and User Privacy
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to the processing of personal data for all employees and users in the EU, even if the business is headquartered elsewhere. Expense reports contain personal data, including an employee's name, travel details, and spending habits. Consequently, an expense platform has a unique, dual responsibility to not only protect corporate financial data but also to act as a compliant data processor for its clients' most sensitive employee information. A platform must adhere to core GDPR principles such as data minimization (only collecting what is necessary), purpose limitation (using data only for specified reasons), and transparency (clearly explaining how data is used).
Framework | Primary Focus | Validation & Scope | Business Value |
PCI DSS | Protecting cardholder data in a secure network environment. | Verifies specific security controls for data storage and transmission. | Demonstrates a commitment to protecting financial data, building customer trust, and mitigating the risk of fines and liability. |
SOC 2 Type II | Trust Services Criteria (Security, Availability, Integrity) for a service organization's systems. | Assesses the effectiveness of controls over an extended observation period (3-12 months). | Serves as a credible, independent signal of a company's security posture, accelerating sales cycles and differentiating it from competitors. |
GDPR | Protecting the privacy and rights of individuals over their personal data. | Governs the lawful and transparent processing of personal data, including data subject rights. | Builds customer and employee trust, and ensures legal and ethical handling of sensitive personal information. |
Operational Security and Risk Mitigation
Beyond the foundational architecture and compliance certifications, a secure platform must provide tools that enable clients to actively manage their own security and control.
Built-in Corporate Card Controls
A modern platform offers granular, real-time control over corporate card usage, a stark contrast to the delayed visibility and static limits of traditional bank cards. Key features include:
Instant Issuance & Freezing: The ability to instantly issue or lock virtual and physical cards.
Customizable Spending Limits: Setting limits per transaction, per day, per vendor, or per project to enforce proactive policy compliance.
Vendor/Merchant Restrictions: The ability to block transactions at specific types of businesses (e.g., casinos or online retailers).
Real-Time Notifications: Providing instant alerts for all transactions to monitor for suspicious activity and address potential fraud as it happens.
A Culture of Security
Technology alone is insufficient for a robust security posture. A platform must provide tools that help clients build a security-conscious culture. Features like a comprehensive audit trail that provides full visibility into who accessed or modified sensitive data are crucial for accountability and oversight. Furthermore, the platform should facilitate and enforce regular security audits and vulnerability testing, which are essential components of a mature security program.
Is the Sparados Expense Management Platform Secure?
Yes, the Sparados expense management platform is secure. Sparados utilizes a multi-layered security approach that focuses on regulatory compliance, partnerships with certified financial institutions, and advanced technologies like tokenization and encryption to protect user data and funds.
Sparados: A Commitment to Security
Sparados takes security seriously. The platform has implemented a multi-layered protection system to ensure that user data and funds are always safe. Its operations are based on solid regulations, collaboration with trusted partners, advanced payment protection, and modern technologies. Here is how Sparados guarantees its users peace of mind.
Regulatory Compliance and Reliability at Sparados
Sparados' strength lies in its solid partnerships. The platform serves over 100 clients globally, and its financial operations are conducted in cooperation with Quicko, a licensed payment institution. Quicko is supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and holds license number IP52/2021. This partnership guarantees that Sparados' actions are fully compliant with Polish regulations and international standards.
Solid Partnerships for Enhanced Security
Sparados collaborates with Verestro, a Fintech-as-a-Service platform provider. Verestro holds a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Level 1) certificate, meaning it meets the highest standards for payment card data security. And all regulated financial operations are carried out by Quicko, an official Mastercard partner, which provides an additional guarantee of reliability.
Payment Protection with Mastercard
Every Sparados card is covered by the Mastercard Security Program. This gives users access to advanced tools such as identity theft protection and fraud monitoring. For more information, users can visit the Mastercard Security Program website, which provides an extra layer of protection for their transactions.
Tokenization and Encryption
Sparados uses modern technologies to protect user data. All payments are fully tokenized and digital, which means confidential card details, such as the number or CVV code, are never disclosed or stored in a way that could expose them to danger. The tokenization process replaces sensitive data with a unique, one-time token, making transactions extremely secure and virtually impossible to compromise.
How to Choose a Secure Expense Management Platform?
A truly secure expense management and card issuing platform is not a collection of isolated features but a holistic system. Its security is defined by its adherence to foundational principles, the strength of its technological features, the intelligence of its strategic partnerships, and its commitment to rigorous governance. By building on this framework, a platform can provide a secure environment that protects both corporate assets and individual privacy.
Based on this analysis, the following actionable recommendations are provided for businesses evaluating or building a secure platform:
Evaluate on the Triad: Do not choose a platform based on a single feature. Instead, evaluate its entire security posture across the three pillars of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability to ensure it can withstand a range of threats.
Prioritize Independent Validation: Treat the PCI DSS Level 1 certification as a non-negotiable requirement. These third-party attestations provide credible proof that a platform's security controls are effective and are a prerequisite for establishing trust in B2B relationships.
Demand Granular Control: Ensure the platform offers real-time, granular spending controls and comprehensive audit trails. These features empower the client to proactively enforce policy, mitigate fraud, and maintain oversight of their financial operations.
Vet the Ecosystem: A platform's security is only as strong as its weakest link. Look for platforms that have built-in security through strategic partnerships with major card networks, compliant cloud providers, and specialized fraud services. This demonstrates a mature, ecosystem-wide approach to security that leverages industry expertise.
By applying the principles discussed and choosing a solution that offers independent validation and granular control, you are not just managing expenses - you are fortifying your company's future. For a truly secure and comprehensive expense management solution that safeguards your most valuable assets, contact Sparados today to schedule a consultation and take the first step toward secure business spend management and corporate card issuing.
