8 Best corporate credit cards in India
The business environment is constantly evolving with new technology being introduced every other day to help companies make their processes more efficient and maximize their resource utilization.
Apart from generative AI which has been making the headlines in recent times, other tools like corporate credit cards that are not so new have recently seen a higher adoption rate.
Over the years these cards have become better and some of the best corporate credit cards in India have started making waves in the business finance world.
What is a corporate credit card?
A corporate credit card is a type of payment card similar to a regular credit or debit card. The difference is that it is meant to be used by businesses and their employees for business expenses.
Unlike regular credit cards, corporate credit cards can have multiple versions that can be given to any employee in the business who needs them.
They are generally also linked to an expense management system where you can track all transactions happening through the cards in real-time. This gives a business complete visibility over all expenses that are being incurred using the company budget.
The best corporate credit cards in India also have custom controls to ensure there is no overspending.
Benefits of using corporate credit cards
Anyone who has run a business before knows how out-of-hand expenses can go if they are not tracked properly and kept in check.
Corporate credit cards are tools that can help you control business expenses by letting you set custom spending limits on each card. This way you’ll know that there can never be a case of overspending as you’ve set the limits to how much can be spent through a card.
We can’t stress enough how crucial it is for an entrepreneur to separate their personal and business expenses. Using your personal credit card for business expenses may not only hurt your personal credit score but also doesn’t help you build your business’s credit score.
Using a corporate credit card, you can separate both these types of expenses and also avoid unnecessary tax implications on yourself.
When an employee is making an expense using a corporate credit card and if the card is linked to an expense management system, then the admins of the system can make it mandatory for employees to attach an expense receipt for the purchase that they have made.
This way the finance team can easily reconcile and check later on whether the expenses being made through the card comply with company’s expense policy.
Often times businesses can be in a tough spot with low cash reserves due to lengthy periods of payment cycles with their clients.
When your business has not received payments but is in need of liquid cash to keep operations going, corporate credit cards help in keeping a positive cash flow.
The best corporate credit cards in India are the ones that are linked to an expense management platform rather than as a stand-alone product.
This ensures that each transaction that is being made using your corporate cards is tracked and recorded on the platform’s ledger in real-time.
Using a corporate credit card that is registered under your business entity helps build your business credit score. This credit score determines your creditworthiness for future financing options such as loans.
The more time you use corporate credit cards without defaulting and making payments on time, the better your business credit score will be.
Discover the power of corporate cards
8 Best corporate card providers in India
1. Volopay corporate card
Volopay provides one of the best corporate credit cards in India after its market entry in mid-2022. The cards are linked with a robust expense management platform that elevates the user experience of the cards with control and usability functions.
Key features:
Departmental budgets, unlimited corporate virtual cards, ATM cash withdrawals, automated syncing with accounting software, Universal CSV, auto-classification of accounting fields, multi-currency wallets, Zoho Books & Tally integrations among many others, subscription management, submission policy, AP automation, GPay compatibility, and analytics.
2. SBI corporate card
SBI has two types of corporate credit cards. One is known as the ‘SBI Signature Corporate Card’ and the other one is called the ‘SBI Platinum Corporate Card’. Both the cards seem to be more focused on traveling businessmen.
Key features:
SBI Signature Corporate Card - Priority servicing, complimentary priority pass membership, complimentary insurance cover, exclusive concierge services
SBI Platinum Corporate Card - Global acceptance, smarter expense management, multi-layer spend control, complimentary insurance cover
3. Razorpay corporate card
Razorpay X is known as the corporate card provided by Razorpay. These cards are great for entrepreneurs who run small startups as well as large businesses.
Key features:
No personal guarantee, unlimited business credit card options with a joining fee of INR 1499, integration with RazorpayX Banking Hub and Razorpay Payment Gateway, and fairly decent interest rates for corporate card users.
4. HDFC corporate premium credit card
This corporate card by HDFC was launched majorly for corporate folks who travel a lot. Using the card for business expenses gains you reward points that can be used for airport lounge benefits.
Key features:
Get a 1% surcharge waiver on fuel transactions, Rs. 3 lakh insurance cover for accidents on road & railway travel, and Rs. 1 crore for cover for air travel. You also get access to more than 1,200 airport lounges in the world, and priority pass membership.
5. Karbon corporate card
Karbon is a new-age and modern FinTech company similar to Volopay. They offer three different corporate credit card options for business users including a Standard card, a Cashback card, and a Booster card.
Key features:
Fast approvals for card applications, partnership with Visa and Mastercard, 10 crore credit limit on the Standard card, 1% cashback on all transactions using the Cashback card, and several other partner perks to choose from.
6. Happay corporate card
Happay offers a corporate card known as the EPIC card. This card is meant to be used by corporate employees to manage their business expenses.
Key features:
No annual fee, partnered with SBM bank to issue corporate credit cards that can be used internationally, no personal liability for any expenses incurred using the corporate card, and real-time spending visibility via web and mobile applications.
7. Enkash corporate card
Enkash offers multiple card variants for their corporate cards based on your focus expense areas such as travel, subscriptions, marketing, GST, procurement, and more.
Key features:
Flexible billing cycle, simple onboarding process, controls to manage & track expenses, unlimited usage cards.
8. Citibank corporate credit card
Citibank has one corporate card that they offer to corporate customers to manage their business expenses and get Exclusive privileges and rewards.
Key features:
Lounge benefits, reward points, spend management tool, secure bill payment facility, mobile app to manage information and expenses, and the ability to tap and pay using the contactless card.
Take charge of your business expenses
What are the eligibility criteria to get a corporate credit card?
Different corporate credit card providers will have different criteria to give businesses access to these cards. But apart from these, there are a few general requirements that almost all providers look for when a company wants to issue their corporate credit cards:
1. Financial statements such as balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash flow statements are required to show the provider your financial health and stability.
2. Your company should have a proven track record of business operations.
3. When it comes to company structure, your business must either be a bank, a limited firm, a partnership firm, a small-scale business, and/or a government-funded company to be eligible for a corporate credit card in India.
4. Apart from all of the above, if your business has a good credit score, it can help fast-track the process of getting your corporate cards.
Key factors to consider when choosing a virtual card provider
1. Security features offered
When you choose a corporate credit card provider, you should make sure that they have very good features when it comes to security.
Whether it's physical cards or virtual cards, you should have the ability to temporarily freeze or permanently block the card in case you lost it or it was stolen. This will ensure that the funds in your card cannot be used by someone and it stays safe until you get your card back or have to issue a new card.
2. Fees and charges
Using corporate credit cards for your business will rarely come free of cost.
Most providers will either charge you for the usage of the cards based on the amount you spend through them or charge a monthly/annual subscription fee to use the cards.
You should make sure that you are aware and good to bare these charges before you sign up with a provider.
3. Accounting software integration
The best corporate credit cards in India are the ones that easily fit into your existing financial ecosystem or make it better.
A huge part of this equation is the ability to sync and export all your card expense records to your accounting software. You should ensure that the corporate card provider you choose has the feature to let you integrate your accounting software with their platform.
4. Transaction limits
Each corporate card provider is different from the others in some ways. One of the aspects that you should check for is the maximum transaction limit permitted by a card.
If you have extremely high volume payments to be made using your corporate credit card, you should ask and check with the provider whether their cards can carry out transactions of such volumes or not.
5. Acceptance
The last thing you want after selecting a corporate credit card for your company is to realize that it is not supported by certain platforms or merchants that you need to make payments on.
You should ask and check during the product demo whether the card will be accepted on the merchant sites where you need to make payments.
6. Mobile access
Choose a corporate card provider that has a mobile app for their expense management system. This will ensure easy and remote control for managers and employees using their corporate cards.
You won’t have to constantly open your laptop or desktop to access your card information and controls. The mobile app itself will let you check the transaction information and change the controls if needed.
7. Access to spending analytics
Last but not least, select a card provider whose platform is capable of taking the spending data from all your corporate cards in the organization and using it to show insightful analytics about business expenses.
This will not only show you how budgets are being utilized but also show a way to make efficient changes to corporate spending.
Volopay corporate cards - the #1 choice for businesses
Whether it is physical corporate cards or virtual cards, Volopay is a class apart from the competition and one of the best corporate credit cards in India.
With the ability to issue one physical card for each employee and unlimited virtual cards, you can be sure that managing online and offline business expenses is a simple and transparent process for all the stakeholders involved.
To know and learn more about the capabilities of our corporate cards, you can book a demo with us at your convenience and see how our system can transform your business finance for the better.