Prepaid business cards: what they are, the best options

A prepaid business card is a type of debit card that requires you or your employees to preload money onto the card before it can be used. Prepaid cards can be a great solution for business owners who frequently need to manage their employees' one-time spending or who don't want to give them broad access to their revolving line of credit.

The best prepaid business cards are easy to apply, user-friendly, and offer financial management tools without charging hefty fees (or any fees at all). Here we share our picks and explain more about how prepaid cards work and what alternatives to consider.

• Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card: Overall the best prepaid business card.

• Dash Prepaid Mastercard: Ideal for prepaid debit cards with no fees.

• Emburse Prepaid Visa: Perfect for disposable cards and virtual cards.

• PEX Prepaid Visa: Ideal for companies with large monthly expenses.

• US Bank Prepaid Business Card: Perfect for payroll.

Bento for Business offers several prepaid card options.

• Corporate debit card. Your team can use it for expenses that would normally be reimbursed, such as travel expenses.

• A fixed amount card that can be issued in place of petty cash.

• Utility cards can only be used for certain expenses, such as gas.

Bento cards offer multiple ways to manage your spending, including setting spending limits and restricting spending to specific merchants or days of the week. Employers can withdraw cash from ATMs, but employees cannot.

You can sign up online by entering basic information about yourself and your business, including your registered company name, employer identification number, and social security number. Companies must be legally registered in the United States and must not operate in certain high-risk industries, such as marijuana, online currency, or adult content.

Fee: Start at $29/month for up to 10 cards.

Free trial: Up to 50 prepaid cards for 60 days.

Funding method: Link and verify your bank account to deposit funds into your Bento account.

With Dash, you can create an unlimited number of prepaid debit cards for your small business with no monthly or per-card fees. Dash's functionality is simple. Business owners can add and suspend users, add funds, and set automatic fund reloads. Employees can request funds when they need it. You can also export data for bookkeeping purposes.

Each debit card has a maximum limit of $10,000, and your Dash account cannot have a total of more than $100,000 at any given time. Card collection agencies may require you to maintain a balance greater than the amount you spent on your card in the previous week. Additionally, you cannot use the Dash Card to withdraw cash, access ATMs, or check your balance. POS systemeven if you are a business owner.

To sign up for an account, please fill out the contact form on the Dash website. A representative will contact you.

credit check: Although not required, Dash reserves the right to verify your creditworthiness.

Free trial: Not applicable (no fees).

Emburse allows you to issue an unlimited number of virtual and disposable cards. This allows you to quickly and easily create cards for specific purposes. As with any prepaid card, you can control your spending by setting limits on each card's budget, the amount of each transaction, transaction categories, and the amount of time the card can be used.

Emburse cards cannot be used at ATMs. And while the card itself is free, you'll have to pay a subscription fee to Emburse Spend, the company's expense management platform. Emburse does not publish pricing information.

To get started with Emburse, request a demo online and work with your sales representative to set up an account. Plan to provide your company name, business banking information, business address, employer identification number, and Social Security number and other information to your account representative. To qualify, your business must be incorporated in the United States.

Fee: Customize according to your company's size and functionality.

Funding method: Connect Emburse to your business checking account.

The PEX Prepaid Business Debit Card has no main account balance limit (a feature most prepaid business cards don't have), so businesses with high monthly expenses won't be limited by account limits. However, individual cards may have usage restrictions.

As with other prepaid cards, business owners can monitor spending from the mobile app and specify spending limits, such as limiting spending to specific merchants or certain days or times. Mobile receipt capture is available. Cash withdrawals are not possible.

You can sign up for a PEX prepaid business debit card online. Be prepared to provide personal and business details, including the social security number of the primary account holder. Your account will typically be up and running within 3 business days.

Fee: The basic plan has no monthly fees for up to five cards, and each additional card costs $8 per month. The following plans cost $75 per month for up to 20 cards and $4 for each additional card, but the monthly fee is waived if you spend more than $50,000 per month.

Funding method: Send an ACH or wire transfer.

US Bank offers expense management prepaid card options similar to the other providers on our list. Issue cards to employees, add funds, limit spending, and manage expenses online. When an employee finishes their work, they can return unused funds to their main account. Administrators also have the option to grant cardholders access to cash.

But US Bank stands out by offering a second option: a prepaid debit card that you can use to manage your payroll. The bank allows businesses to load employee payments (whether salary, perks, or bonuses) onto prepaid debit cards that employees can use for personal expenses. Never miss a spend on these cards. Think of it as an alternative to paper checks.

Payroll cards can be a good option for businesses that often pay salaries to contractors or temporary employees and want to reduce their reliance on checks. It's also a good alternative to per diems if you don't need to track expenses.

For more information about the program, please contact your US Bank representative.

Fee: Customize according to your company's size and functionality.

Funding method: You can fund your expense card immediately or through scheduled transfers. Payroll cards can be funded with ACH.

Prepaid business cards are debit cards that use funds loaded onto the card. These cards often come with digital tools to manage staff finances, such as mobile receipt capture and employee spending management. Most companies price their card services on a monthly basis, ranging from free to more than $100 per month for more features and more cards.

Prepaid cards are similar to regular business debit cards. However, instead of withdrawing funds from the linked link, business checking accountprepaid cards must be refilled manually.

If you already have a business debit card, your bank may be able to issue a copy to your employees. However, these regular business debit cards may not have built-in spending management features like prepaid cards, so it's best to limit them to a few trusted team members. Prepaid debit cards give you more control over employee spending.

Prepaid business cards are a great tool to give your employees a fixed amount of money to spend on your business. It's a great alternative to per diem or petty cash, as it allows cardholders to have strict control over how much they spend. You can also issue it to employees who need to carry out transactions on your behalf.

no. Unlike business credit cards, prepaid debit cards don't require a credit check and are funded from a linked bank account. You can only spend the amount you add to your business prepaid debit card. Spending on a business prepaid debit card is not reported to the credit bureaus, so it doesn't affect you personally or personally. business credit score.

For business credit cards, approval is based on the business owner's personal credit score, among other things. Your card issuer will assign you a spending limit, and you can spend up to that limit even if you don't have cash on hand. Business credit card usage is also reported to business credit bureaus, which helps build business credit.

A secured business credit card works similarly to a prepaid business debit card. You preload your card and the amount you pay acts as your credit limit. However, the deposited money will not be used. Instead, the credit card company holds it as a type of security deposit. Then, add additional spending to the card and pay it off over time.

Credit card companies often transition secured cardholders to traditional credit cards as their credit scores improve. In that case, the deposit will be refunded.

If you just want to allow other team members to make purchases on your company's behalf, a business credit card may be a better option than a prepaid business debit card. Business credit cards typically offer services such as: employee card Just like a prepaid debit card, you can control your spending. However, these provide rewards, help build business goodwill over time, and do not need to be replenished.

If you manage a large team that needs access to company funds from time to time, a prepaid card may be a better choice. You can create cards as needed, such as for one-time use, to help keep employee spending within budget.