“All of Deutsche Telekom’s requirements are met 100%.”
Ricky Singh-Grewal leads the Smart Payments project, which introduced virtual credit cards at Deutsche Telekom. Together with Pliant and Commerzbank, the team developed a solution that combines advanced technology with the reliability of an established banking partner. The result is a simplified and more efficient internal payment process.
Deutsche Telekom
Bonn, GermanyHeadquarters
TelecommunicationsIndustry
€115.8 billion (2024)Revenue
~200,000 worldwideEmployees
With its strategic vision “Leading Digital Telco,” Deutsche Telekom is driving digital transformation across the company. This includes everything from network infrastructure and customer service to internal operations. A key part of this transformation is modernizing the traditional Source-to-Pay process. Under the name “Smart Payments,” Telekom launched a pilot project for virtual corporate credit cards. The goal was to bring more automation and transparency to internal payments.
Project lead Ricky Singh-Grewal was responsible for the request for proposal, compliance and security, and the integration of the solution into Telekom’s existing systems.
The challenge: From card ban to pilot project
Previously, Telekom’s payment processes involved significant administrative effort. This was especially true for invoice payments or reimbursements to employees who paid in advance.
Since 2015, the company had an active ban on corporate credit cards. At that time, a single physical card was shared across entire departments. No available solution met Telekom’s strict compliance and security standards.
To launch a new initiative, the company needed a modern solution that met those standards and integrated smoothly with existing systems. Only then could Singh-Grewal secure an exemption for the project.
Telekom’s requirements for a card solution
Documented approval workflows, clear ownership, and successful penetration testing.
Personalized cards with adjustable limits, validity periods, and merchant settings.
No more out-of-pocket expenses, digital receipt capture, and faster processing.
Support for company-specific rules, like extra approvals or blocked suppliers.
Automated data exchange to reduce manual accounting work.
The solution: Pliant and Commerzbank offer a flexible solution for corporate needs
The goal of the proof-of-concept was to show that a provider could deliver strong technology while fully complying with Telekom’s internal processes and security standards.
The partnership between Pliant and Commerzbank proved to be a great match. Commerzbank offered the trust and stability of one of Europe’s largest banks. Pliant contributed agility and technical speed. Together, they delivered a solution that performed exceptionally well in the pilot phase.
Pliant demonstrated its flexibility by implementing several Telekom-specific features quickly. “We needed things like supplier blocks and preset card expiration periods. These were delivered fast. Without them, we wouldn’t have been allowed to launch the pilot,” Singh-Grewal says.
The solution was tested under realistic conditions and passed several security and compliance audits. Integration into Telekom’s procurement and accounting systems went smoothly.
To further validate the solution, the team gathered feedback from existing Pliant enterprise customers. The responses were consistently positive.
The result: Fintech innovation with trusted banking support
The pilot was intentionally limited to specific use cases. It focused on payments that could only be made by credit card, such as international training expenses or software licenses like ChatGPT.
The results have been clearly positive. The processes are stable, all compliance and security requirements are met, and the feedback from employees is encouraging. Employees appreciate that they no longer have to pay out of pocket. The accounting team benefits from simplified workflows and fewer manual tasks.
One surprise for the team was how precisely virtual cards can be configured. The discussion is no longer about whether to use them, but rather which payments should not be handled by virtual credit cards. “We’re now asking which payments should still go through other methods,” says Singh-Grewal.
The pilot’s results are being evaluated and will help the Management Board decide whether to scale the solution further.
"For Telekom, the combination of our long-standing relationship with Commerzbank and Pliant’s innovation was the most convincing solution. From day one, all our requests were handled flexibly. Today, every one of our requirements are 100% met."
