Giving your employees a credit or debit card can be quite a responsibility for them and requires you to trust them. With a prepaid business expense card, it is not as daunting as they can only spend the amount of money that you have loaded onto the card so you don’t have to worry about overspending. Prepaid cards can also help you to manage your business expenses better with online management software to monitor spending and run reports, tag purchases and attach receipts. These are some of the prepaid business expense cards available.
Companies are ranked in no particular order.
| Company | Card type | Monthly price per card |
|---|---|---|
| Acorn Account | Mastercard | Included in the current account fee |
| Amaiz | Mastercard | Included in the current account fee |
| B4B Payments | Mastercard | Not stated |
| CardOneMoney | Mastercard | Included in the current account fee |
| Cashplus | Mastercard | Not stated |
| CaxtonFX | Mastercard | From £0 |
| EasyFX | Not stated | Not stated |
| Equals | Mastercard | £50 annual platform fee |
| Pleo | Mastercard | From £0 |
| Soldo | Mastercard | From £0 |
| WeSwap | Mastercard | Free |
| Yordex | Visa | From £3 |
| Airwallex | Visa | Free |
1. Acorn Account
- Prepaid Mastercard
- Accepted in over 35 million locations worldwide
- Need a business account with them and 1 card is included as standard for £12.50 per month
- No charges for retail transactions
- Cash withdrawal charge of £1.50 per transaction
- Can request up to 4 additional cards on the account
- Additional cards charged at £5 per month
- Can be used abroad but fees apply
- There is no overdraft facility
- Can apply online
Website Acorn Account Prepaid Business Expense Card
Read the full Acorn Account review
2. Amaiz
- Business current account with a prepaid card
- Mastercard
- Hassle-free setup
- Manage your card in the app
- Single card included as standard with the account with a monthly fee starting at £4.99
- Corporate accounts allow up to 3 cards
- ATM cash withdrawal fee of 2%
- Provides live customer support
- Includes receipt management
- Apply online
Website Amaiz Prepaid Business Expense Card
Read the full Amaiz review
3. B4B Payments
- Prepaid Mastercard
- Offers branded cards
- Allows real-time monitoring of spend
- Simplify and streamline expense management processes
- Access to a digital management platform
- Detailed reporting
- Track all expenditure
- Set spending parameters
- Integration with Sage, Concur and Xero
- Doesn’t state the cost of the card
Website B4B Payments Prepaid Business Expense Card
4. CardOneMoney
- Current account with a prepaid business card with a monthly fee of £12.50
- Mastercard
- Can add up to 4 additional cards at £5 per person
- No purchase transaction charges
- Online account management
- Accepted in over 35 million worldwide locations
- Cards can be used abroad but transaction charges apply
- ATM cash withdrawal charges at £1.50
- No overdraft facility
- Apply online in less than 10 minutes
Website CardOneMoney Prepaid Business Expense Card
Read the full CardOneMoney review
5. Cashplus
- Offers business expense cards
- Quick and simple to set up
- One annual fee for all cards (not stated)
- Individual limits on each card
- Track spending in real-time
- Offers up to 20 additional cards
- Deposit money through electronic transfer
- Allows better expense reporting
- Integrates with accountancy software
- Currently offer free additional cards
Website Cashplus Prepaid Business Expense Card
6. Caxton
- Two prepaid Mastercards
- Card fees of £0 or £4 per month
- Offers 3 month free trial
- Track spending in real-time
- Set individual limits
- Choice of Sterling or Global cards
- Manage cards on the app including block cards, approve expenses and top-up cards
- Automatic top-ups
- Integrates with accounting systems
- Automation of expense reports
Website Caxton Prepaid Business Expense Card
7. EasyFX
- Corporate prepaid currency card
- Offers zero fees on purchases, ATM withdrawals and transfers
- Stores multiple currencies on one card
- Manage funds in real-time
- Access software from any device
- Unlimited number of cards
- Reduce spending abroad using a foreign currency card
- Easy management including the ability to block cards
- Can be used at over 35 million locations and 2 million ATMs
- No pricing information is available
Website EasyFX Prepaid Business Expense Card
8. Equals
- International prepaid expense card that can be used in 190 countries
- Low rates for international transactions
- Track and control spending
- Single annual platform fee of £50
- Customise access permissions for users
- Manage cards including top ups, add users and block withdrawals
- Produce expense reports
- Integrate with accounting tools
- Expert account manager
- Earn at least 3.5% cashback at some high street brands
Website Equals Prepaid Business Expense Card
9. Pleo
- Prepaid Mastercard
- Free for up to 5 users, paid plan starts at £10 per person per month
- Issue card with individual limits with a click
- Automate expenses
- Overview of company expenses
- Track purchases in real-time
- Manage cards allowing you to disable and enable cards instantly
- Capture and match receipts
- Automatic categorisation of purchases
- Integrates with accounting tools
Website Pleo Prepaid Business Expense Card
10. Soldo
- Offers 3 prepaid card plans
- Provides a free plan for a single card and paid plans from £6 per card per month
- Individual cards connected to a shared account
- Intuitive integrated app
- Enables you to manage spending and expenses better
- Offers physical and virtual cards
- Fee applies per card
- The Premium account provides advanced controls and reporting
- No monthly fee on your 1st virtual card for 12 months
- Capture receipts on the mobile app
Website Soldo Prepaid Business Expense Card
11. WeSwap
- Expense card designed for use abroad
- No card fees, 2.49% fee for currency swaps
- Avoid expensive fees and commission
- Contactless Mastercard
- Works in over 180 countries
- Store money in 33 currencies in digital wallets
- Easy to load from your bank account
- Tag expenses in the app
- Free cash withdrawals under £200 per month, then a 2% fee
- Send money to colleagues through the WeSwap account
Website WeSwap Prepaid Business Expense Card
12. Yordex
- Prepaid Visa card
- Physical and virtual cards are available
- Branded cards available
- Prices start at £3 per card per month
- Offers tailored solutions
- Full control and visibility
- Automatically chase cardholders for receipts
- Available in GBP, EUR and USD
- Cards are delivered within 5 working days
- Offers a trial period followed by 12 month contract
Website Yordex Prepaid Business Expense Card
13. Airwallex
- Offers virtual employee and expense cards
- Multi-currency cards
- Create cards for each expense category or subscription
- Can be created in minutes
- Track spend in real-time
- Zero international card transaction fees
- Get better FX rates
- Hold multi-currency wallets
- Auto-convert at best FX rates to save money
- Reduce administration from chasing receipts
Website Airwallex Prepaid Business Expense Card
How do prepaid business expense credit cards work?
Prepaid business expense credit cards are a spending solution that allows you to provide your employees with a card for making purchases without worrying about how much they spend as they can only spend what you have loaded onto the card.
You can allocate a prepaid card to an individual or team/department and load the card with the amount of money you are comfortable them having on the card and then you can generally monitor the card online or through an app. You can easily top up the card by transferring funds onto the card instantly when needed.
Many prepaid cards also provide online software that allows you to export data or run reports, tag purchases and add receipts to make expenses easier to manage and can help you to save time on expense management.
How much money can I put on them?
The majority of prepaid card providers don’t state a limit on the amount you can load onto an individual card but as you can load funds at any time this shouldn’t restrict your spending as long as you monitor the balance and top it up.
How much will a prepaid business expense card cost?
The cost of prepaid cards varies depending on the provider and the number of cards you have. There are several business current accounts that offer a prepaid card as part of their account at no extra fee. Other providers offer the prepaid card for free for a single card or a small number of users. Another charge for platform access rather than a card fee.
It is also worth bearing in mind how you are going to use your card as there may be additional fees for some transactions such as cash withdrawals or international purchases which vary depending on the provider.
How to apply for a prepaid business expense card?
Most prepaid card providers allow you to apply online for a business prepaid card account and you can often easily add further cards through your online account. As the card is a prepayment card and not a credit card, there aren’t as many checks that need to take place to approve your account so it can be set up more quickly as well.