Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) has partnered with Spendesk Financial Services (SFS) as their issuer processor in Europe.

Stampli introduced a procure-to-pay solution that brings all procurement processes, documents and conversations between finance team members, employees and vendors together in one workflow. The new Stampli Procure-to-Pay software provides a single platform that includes purchase requests, purchase order (PO) creation, invoice processing, payments and discussions, the company said in a Thursday (Jan. 30) press release.The solution will be made generally available to all Stampli’s accounts payable (AP) automation customers during the first quarter, according to the release. “Everything happens within Stampli: Every step, every approval, every budget review and every conversation, in perfect harmony with your ERP,” Stampli CEO and co-founder Eyal Feldman said in the release

Spendesk, the complete spend management platform, has shared the findings of a new study of corporate spending on AI tools among 4,300 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the UK and across Europe. As the AI industry grows in maturity, the findings reflect how businesses are both mass-adopting while strategically investing in scalable, creative, and safety-focused AI tools to balance cost, functionality, and societal impact.Key Findings:The number of UK SMBs adopting AI tools in 2024 is 32 times more than in 2022Per-company spending on AI tools in the UK rose 5.9 times from €195 in 2022 to €1,151 in 2024OpenAI is the most popular AI vendor among UK companies, with a total billing amount of €656,355 in 2024, up from €183,052 in 2023, and an average monthly bill of €160 per companyConversational AI tools such as ChatGPT have seen increases in overall spend in the UK but maintained low average billing rates, indicating that these tools are successfully scaling across industriesThere is evidence UK businesses are thinking more about responsible AI usage and safety, with spending on Anthropic rising from €323 in 2023 to €14,574 in 2024The Spendesk corporate spend data shows that UK businesses are placing increased trust in AI tools. The adoption rate for AI solutions has grown more than 32 times in two years, from 19 UK companies of those surveyed in 2022 to 599 in 2024.Results also show a consistent rise in average spending on AI among UK businesses, from €195 per company in 2022 to €1,151 per company in 2024. This suggests that many businesses in the UK are moving beyond basic AI adoption, and are now integrating it into core workflows.Compared to their French and German counterparts in the study, spend on AI among UK companies has grown more quickly over the past two years. However, the number of French SMBs adopting AI tools has increased by a greater amount – 57 times – during the same period, while German companies spend more on average than UK companies at €1,332 per month.The fast growth of OpenAI‘s business in the UK – with billing levels reaching €656,355 in 2024, up from €183,052 in 2023 – implies that UK companies are prioritizing large-scale, adaptable AI platforms for diverse applications such as content generation, customer interaction, data analysis, and automation.Where creative AI applications are concerned, UK business’ spending on Midjourney grew from €7,763 in 2023 to €12,612 in 2024, with average billing amounts decreasing from €45 per month in 2023 to €37 per month in 2024. This indicates that businesses in media, marketing, and design are taking advantage of the lower barrier to entry for access to creative AI tools.Conversational AI tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly being used by UK companies to directly interact with customers, enabling real-time engagement and streamlined customer services