What happened: Berlin-based Pliant has made two interesting moves in the past few days: Firstly, it acquired Hi.Health (EU Startups) and secondly, it announced its partnership with Pflegenavi (Caritas Pflege).
My comment: Pliant’s core product is a corporate credit card product, similar to Brex or Ramp in the US. What makes Pliant relevant for Embedded Finance is its card-as-a-service product. This enables other companies, such as corporate expense management provider Circula, to offer corporate credit cards.
Hi.Health → Hi.Health, which previously presented itself at our Embedded Finance Review Event in Berlin in 2024, offers insurance companies a card product for their own customers. For example, privately insured patients typically need to prepay their bills at the doctor’s office before being reimbursed by their insurance, which can take weeks or months, depending on the country and insurance provider. The insurance company can give its customers a Hi.Health card (likely virtual) with a zero balance but will be funded in real-time whenever a transaction is approved (e.g., only for healthcare expenses within specific amount ranges). Since the insurance provides the funding for the Hi.Health card, the customer does not need to prepay the medical bill. Additionally, the customer can use the Hi.Health app for submitting invoices and managing medical payments. Hi.Health has received some positive attention in the industry, but we have not yet seen a customer announcement, which might explain the sale to Pliant. On the other hand, Pliant was likely interested in selling its card-as-a-service product directly to insurance companies, but might have realised that a more focused card product is required. According to the announcement, Hi.Health will continue to operate independently, and having a company of Pliant's size in the background may make it easier to sell to insurance companies.
Pflegenavi → The Austrian startup targets care facilities that take care of patients in various ways. With Pflegenavi, these care facilities can replace cash and paper processes with a digital solution. All expenses related to a patient (e.g., a haircut) can be managed and approved within the software, which relatives can also access. With the Pliant card, these payments can not only be made “post-paid” (after uploading the invoice and approval), but can also be made directly at the point of sale. This is possible thanks to specific rules that can be set up (e.g., only supermarket purchases below €50 each transaction, with a monthly limit of €100).
