Recently, Yuannian Technology, a leading player in the corporate expense management sector, has fallen into a financial crisis, with even rumors of bankruptcy circulating.
Once regarded as the “gatecrasher” of the airline distribution and TMC industry, the company ultimately failed to survive a critical turning point in its market segment.
The core value of expense management software lies in reimbursement compliance and invoice management. However, with the widespread adoption of electronic invoices and the integration of direct bank connections into financial systems, its “moat” quickly eroded. Coupled with the superior user experience and services of OA and TMC platforms, expense management tools have fallen into a predicament of being “organizationally unfriendly and failing to gain user acceptance.”
Yuannian Technology’s crisis fundamentally stems from the disappearance of industry pain points and technological substitution.
Expense management software initially gained traction through innovations such as OCR recognition, unified payment, and direct bank integration. However, as these functions gradually became standard features in banking and financial systems, their standalone value was bypassed.
In corporate travel, the real core demands remain “cost reduction and efficiency improvement.”Expense management software failed to address these needs, and instead has been criticized for rigid processes and fragmented user experience.
This case illustrates the risk of a “disappearing track.”
Regulatory changes and technological iterations can fundamentally eliminate the very pain points that startups rely on for survival, collapsing their value propositions.
For corporate travel and transportation-related companies, this is not an isolated case. Just as airlines have faced declining revenue under high-speed rail competition, the demise of expense management software serves as a reminder: only timely transformation and proactive integration can prevent repeating the fate of companies like Yuannian.
