Credit Stack for Indian Startups Scaling Past ₹50 Crore Profit

Crossing ₹50 crore in net profit usually means 400+ employees, multi-entity compliance, and investor scrutiny bordering on public-company standards. Your finance stack must prevent leakage, optimize global travel, and withstand Big Four audits.

Signal: Enterprises routing ₹100–150 crore of annual controllable spend through tiered corporate cards + treasury accounts free up ₹8–10 crore of float, unlock 700k+ premium miles, and produce audit-ready evidence in hours, not weeks.

Treasury & Banking Architecture

Layer	Accounts/Partners	Purpose
Primary operating hubs	Kotak Tech Current (multi-entity), HDFC Global CMS, ICICI iBizz	Centralize domestic flows with host-to-host ERP integration.
Global treasury	HSBC GlobalLink, DBS IDEAL, JP Morgan Vostro	Multi-currency pools, sweeping between India, Singapore, US entities.
Yield + short-term investments	Axis Burgundy Private, ICICI Wealth, Mutual fund T-bill ladders	Park retained earnings; pledge for overdraft/CP issuance.
Expense management	SAP Concur + Volopay Enterprise / Happay / Zaggle	Policy-driven card issuance, GST capture, SSO audit trails.

Enterprise Card Stack

Tier	Instrument	Key features
Executive travel	American Express Platinum Corporate / Centurion Business	Global Lounge Collection, Fine Hotels & Resorts, concierge-managed itineraries, emergency evacuation.
Procurement & marketing	Axis Reserve corporate, HDFC Corporate Platinum	High single-swipe limits, SmartBuy API hooks, unlimited domestic lounges for senior staff.
Departmental cards	SBI Corporate Signature, YES FIRST Corporate, Amex Corporate Gold	Category caps, centralized billing, T+1 data feeds into ERP.
Prepaid/virtual layer	Karbon Limitless, Volopay Enterprise, RazorpayX Corporate Cards, EnKash FIX	Budget-based cards for teams, project codes, Slack/Teams approvals.
Forex debit & travel cards	Niyo Global for Business, HSBC corporate debit, Zaggle Zoyer	1.5–2% markup, instant load via ERP, great for field teams.

Spend Governance Matrix

Spend bucket	Owner	Instrument	Controls
CXO & board travel	EA team + Treasury	Amex Platinum Corporate / Axis Reserve	Pre-trip approval workflow, policy-coded spending limits, concierge-managed changes.
Marketing & growth	VP Growth	Axis Reserve + Volopay campaign cards	Cap per channel, auto-GST invoices, 10X OTAs for events.
Procurement	Head of Ops	HDFC Corporate + SAP Ariba	PO approvals, 3-way match before payment, auto-TDS logging.
SaaS + tooling	IT FinOps	RazorpayX / Volopay	Vendor-specific cards, Slack alerts when renewals fire.
Travel reimbursements	Finance shared services	Niyo Global / Zaggle	Per-diem cards, instant reloads, OCR receipts.

Global Travel & Rewards Playbook

• Consolidate routes (India ↔ SFO/LON/SIN) under airline corporate programs (Qatar Beyond Business, Lufthansa PartnerPlusBenefit).
• Funnel flight/accommodation bookings through HDFC SmartBuy API or Amex GBT; pipe data into Concur.
• Pool rewards centrally: Edge Miles → Flying Blue, Infinia points → Marriott/Hyatt, Amex MR → KrisFlyer/Qatar. Assign redemption owners quarterly.
• Issue add-on Priority Pass / DreamFolks for visiting executives and board members; track usage to avoid abuse.

Controls & Compliance

1. Policy codification: Publish a finance playbook covering card issuance rules, spend limits, MCC blocks, and documentation standards. Host inside Notion/Confluence with e-sign acknowledgement.
2. Automated reconciliations: Use ERP (SAP/NetSuite) + APIs from banks/cards to reconcile daily; flag anomalies automatically.
3. Segregation of duties: No single person should request, approve, and post a transaction. Use maker-checker flows for high-value card spends.
4. FX + hedging: Treasury should hedge predictable USD/EUR/SGD exposure with forwards. Document which card handles which FX scenario to avoid double hedging.
5. Audit readiness: Maintain a “diligence room” (Google Drive/SharePoint) with: board approvals, card agreements, GST invoices, TDS challans, reward statements, and SOPs.

KPI Dashboard Ideas

KPI	Target	Tool
Working-capital days shaved via cards	20–30 days	Treasury BI + card float tracker
Rewards yield	≥3.5% blended	Notion/Looker studio
Policy violations per month	<0.5% of transactions	Expense tool alerts
Utilization per card tier	40–60% (executive) / 20–30% (departmental)	Bank dashboards
Time to close books	<5 working days	ERP close calendar

Expansion & Succession Planning

• New markets: For US/EU subsidiaries, pair Amex Corporate + Brex/Ramp (if eligible) while mirroring data back to HQ.
• M&A mode: Set up temporary project cards with strict limits for diligence teams; revoke instantly post-close.
• Succession: Train finance managers in multiple cities; share issuer relationship contacts and escalation ladders.

Next Steps

1. Run a treasury workshop with banking partners to renegotiate FX rates, MDR, and card fees based on consolidated volume.
2. Map every spend workflow (capex, opex, travel, marketing) and ensure there’s a default instrument + backup.
3. Build a quarterly “Rewards & Float Review” deck for the board—highlight savings, incidents, and planned upgrades.
4. Pilot new-age tools (Clear Spend, Karbon Pulse) in one business unit before rolling out company-wide.