Visa was amongst a number of backers who have just shelled out some money for Neat.

Neat, which describes itself as a fintech alternative to banks, raised US$11m in Series A funding round led by Pacific Century Group. Visa, MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia and others chipped in. 

The money will be used, isn’t it always, for international expansion. 

Neat, based in Hong Kong, offers modern financial solutions to SMEs and startups.

Neat has a vision: to enable the entrepreneur economy, starting with multi-currency business accounts that can be opened online with a 15-minutes application, corporate expense cards, and the ability to send and receive money globally.

Neat and Visa have also entered into a strategic partnership. Over the next few months, Neat will begin issuing Visa credit cards aimed at cross-border SMEs.

“Our goal is to offer a truly global solution for businesses that trade across borders, regardless of their size or how long they’ve been in the market. Corporate credit cards, for example, can be incredibly difficult for young businesses to get,” said David Rosa, CEO and Co-Founder of Neat. “We’re excited to partner with Visa, one of the leaders in digital payments, to offer a product that hasn’t always been accessible to young SMEs.”

Neat aims to make international trade nearly frictionless by not only offering a way for customers to move money, but also making use of a wide ecosystem of tools that automates their business processes. The ultimate aim is to enable anyone to run an international business with ease.