Corporate cards

Why are corporate cards essential for businesses?

Apr 05, 2024

From making daily functioning expenses to business travel payments, corporate cards can help businesses stay organized and up-to-date with all the company transactions.


Whether it is a small or large size business dealing in cash and record maintenance of cash transactions is immensely complicated. As your business grows, more expenses and transactions will be made every day.


This means the requirement for better spending control and management will also increase. This is the major reason to use corporate cards.

What are corporate cards?


Corporate cards are cards issued only to businesses. These cards are made to help businesses make daily expenses. Companies can assign these cards to their employees, who can spend the company funds and make purchases on the business’s behalf.


Corporate cards make this expense-making process easier as the reimbursement process gets eliminated, and the transactions under a certain amount are pre-approved. Corporate cards for businesses are a way to manage and track spending efficiently. Along with this, it can help in controlling the overall organization of expenses.


Different corporate cards can be used for different purposes or assigned to different employees and projects. This will help keep spending separated, and as all expenses are categorized, the accounting will become easier.


Normal personal cards cannot be a replacement for corporate cards because greater credit limits and advanced expense control features are the reasons to use corporate cards. 



Suggested read: Business credit card vs. corporate credit card - Which is best for your business?

Why are corporate cards essential for businesses?



1. Streamlining business expenses


Whether your corporate card is physical or virtual, everyone will have complete transparency. The finance team and managers will always have a bird’s eye view of all expenses being made through the cards.


Plus, when the employees use corporate business cards that are linked to the company funds, the reimbursement process goes out of the question. When all spending is done through a single medium, and all transaction information is instantly recorded, business expenses automatically get streamlined.



2. Improved cash flow management


One of the major reasons to use corporate cards is cash flow management. Corporate cards centralize all your business expenses, the app or software connected to it automatically records all transactions and maintains a detailed record of those.


With this, you can access the spending database anytime. See which employee made which transactions, where and when as well. You will have all the necessary information to analyze and evaluate the company expenses and make decisions related to policies and spending control.



Do you know cash flow management is a very crucial factor in business operation? Many businesses find it difficult to manage cash flows. Check out our article on how to manage cash flow and handle your cash flow easily.



3. Enhanced employee spend control


Corporate cards for businesses are installed with many spend control tools/features which help your company track and limit employee expenses.


In a corporate card, you can set a limit on the spend amount, through which all transactions under the given limit would be automatically approved.


Anything above the limit will have to be either approved or will be rejected. Plus, you assign who will have access, connect the cards to a budget/project, and always have real-time updates of all spending activity. 



4. Access to discounts and rewards programs


If your business uses corporate credit cards, then you are in for availing of various expense benefits. On making spends with business corporate credit cards, you can get advantages like extra miles, lounge entries, rebates, cashback, travel insurance, etc.


These benefits help you save small amounts of money now and then. And it may not seem like a big saving, but over time when you add up all the savings, it turns into a huge amount that can be or be used in other required areas. 


5. Increased protection against fraudulent activities


The most common types of expense fraud are fake bills, unauthorized spending, duplicate expense claim submission, etc. But if your business uses corporate credit cards, all these problems will instantly vanish. This is because these cards provide real-time transaction information – complete transparency.


Corporate cards give your employees fund access and expense approval ease, along with giving your finance team full control over all transactions to protect them from misuse.



Does your business need corporate cards?


The size of your business is the major determinant of whether or not you require corporate cards for business or not. Small startups, solo entrepreneurs, or freelancers do not require corporate cards because the amount of transactions and management needed isn’t that significant.


However, as your business grows, expense amount and frequency keep increasing the need for management and greater spending capabilities increases. However, before jumping to buy a corporate card, there are a few things you must consider: 



The number of employees who would be given the corporate cards. So the cost would be according to that. 



The management features you require. Is it just the simple transaction maintenance ones, or do you also need higher accounting and analysis features as well? 



Foreign exchange requirement. If your business deals with overseas vendors or clients or has frequent travels, then purchasing corporate cards is a beneficial move. 



Volopay corporate cards to manage business expenses


Made up your mind to get corporate cards for your business? But you are confused between the options available under the corporate cards for businesses category?


Let us help, you won’t have to look any further. Get a Volopay corporate card. Volopay is an elaborate expense management software that offers state-of-the-art corporate cards but virtual and physical.


Here is a list of reasons why you should choose Volopay corporate cards: 



Feature to set spending limits, connect cards to budget and spending policies to save the company from the harmful effects of overspending. 


Direct accounting integration facility, so every expense made through the card gets automatically recorded into the accounting books. 


High-tech security with instant block and freeze options. Plus, the cards aren’t directly linked to your business bank account, so extra safe. 


Unlimited virtual corporate cards so you can create as many as you want according to your requirement. With this expense, stay separate and easily manageable. 


Lowest FX rates in comparison to any other provider. These corporate cards will act as your multi-currency wallet, which will also help you save on exchange charges. 



We can go on endlessly about the benefits of Volopay corporate cards; however, why not experience it first hand? Book a demo now!



FAQs

Why do you need a corporate card?

Businesses require corporate cards to help employees make spending easy and have more control and transparency over business spending.

Does everyone get a corporate card?

All businesses can get corporate cards. Some basic eligibility requirements like registration and minimum employee number have to be fulfilled. 

Does getting a corporate card hurt your credit?

Corporate credit cards, when used effectively, can help you enhance your business’s credit score.

Corporate cards to manage your business expense with ease