Choosing a Corporate Card Programme: Charge, Credit or Prepaid

Corporate card programmes differ on four axes that determine whether the product fits: how the issuer underwrites you, who is liable, how payment works, and how granular the controls are. Rewards are the last consideration, not the first.

Underwriting models

• Cash-balance underwriting — limits set against bank balances, updated frequently. Fast to obtain, but limits can fall when your balance does.
• Traditional credit underwriting — financials, time in business, sometimes a personal guarantee. Slower, more stable, usually better limits over time.
• Prepaid or deposit-backed — you fund the account. No credit build, but it works for young entities and subsidiaries.

Liability structure

Corporate liability puts the obligation on the entity; joint and several puts the employee on the hook too. For expense programmes with junior staff, corporate liability avoids a series of awkward conversations and makes offboarding cleaner.

Controls that separate a card programme from a pile of cards

• Per-card and per-merchant-category limits, changeable without reissuing.
• Virtual cards issued per vendor or per subscription, with a hard cap.
• Receipt capture enforced at authorisation time, with auto-lock on non-compliance.
• Native sync to your accounting ledger with GL coding rules, not a monthly CSV.

Total cost, honestly

Count the platform fee, FX markup on non-domestic spend (frequently 1% to 3% and often the largest hidden cost), late fees, and the value of float. Then subtract rewards at your actual category mix — headline rates usually apply to a category you barely use. A programme with no rewards and no FX markup often beats a 2% card for a company that buys software in three currencies.

Rollout advice

Start with a pilot group, migrate recurring software subscriptions to virtual cards first, and set the close-day receipt deadline before you distribute plastic. Programmes fail on policy enforcement, not on product features.

General information for finance teams, not a product recommendation.