While a company is small, everything runs on the founder’s card. Then the familiar mess arrives: subscriptions registered to a personal email, an ad account tied to someone’s private card, half the month’s spending unexplained in the books, and when a colleague leaves it turns out only they had access to the services. Company cards fix exactly this — provided they are issued by a scheme rather than on request.
What a separate card per function gives you
- A hard ceiling on spending. The card holds exactly the amount allocated. No merchant and no ad platform can take more, even on a retry.
- Readable reporting. Each card has its own statement: advertising separately, subscriptions separately, travel separately. Nobody has to decode a single list of three hundred transactions.
- Instant shutdown. Someone leaves or a card is compromised — it closes in seconds, the account behind it is untouched, and every other card keeps working.
- Independence from individuals. Company services are tied to a company card, not to the private card of a person who may leave.
- Capped damage. If details leak, the only money at risk is the balance on that one card.
A scheme for a team of ten
The working rule: issue a card per function, not per person. It is easier to budget and easier to hand over. A typical split:
- Advertising, two cards. One for the main ad account, one for testing new platforms. Fund to the weekly budget.
- Subscriptions and tools, one card. Every recurring charge in one place: you see what the company pays for and can cut what is unused.
- Travel, one card per trip. Funded to the estimate, closed on return.
- Procurement and one-off purchases, one card. The same card handles purchases from unfamiliar merchants.
- Contractors, one card each. The limit equals the agreed budget, and the card statement is the report.
Six to eight cards instead of one shared one — and never a situation where nobody knows who paid for what.
What the cards cost
- issuing a virtual card — 1.00 EUR, replacement — 1.00 EUR;
- monthly service — 3.00 EUR per card;
- purchases in stores and online, in euro and other currencies — no fee;
- topping up from another card — 2.00 EUR + 1.99 %;
- currency mark-up at checkout — 2.99 %, against 1.00 % when converting on the account;
- chargeback handling on a personal card — 40.00 EUR.
The eight cards from the example cost 24 EUR a month plus a one-off 8 EUR for issuing. For a company spending five figures on advertising, that is the price of one hour of an accountant untangling a shared statement.
One rule on currency: if you know the payment will be in another currency, convert on the account first — the gap between 1.00 % and 2.99 % on a 10,000 EUR budget is almost 200 EUR.
What to do if a card is compromised
- Close the card in the app — instant, no phone call required.
- Issue a new one and re-attach the services: subscriptions move manually, but there are few of them if cards are split by function.
- Review the statement for the period and dispute anything unfamiliar.
- Do not close the account: every other card and payment keeps running.
This scenario is exactly why cards are split. With one shared card you would have to stop all company spending at once.
What issuing requires
A company account with its own IBAN as the balance behind the cards, articles of association and registration documents, details of the beneficial owners, and licences where the activity requires them. We do not issue credit cards: these run from the account balance, so there is no credit assessment and no collateral — and for the same reason they cannot go into the negative.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards can be issued
There is no cap on the number. The practical limit is manageability: more than ten cards without a named owner recreate the same chaos, only more expensive.
Can a card go to someone outside the payroll
Yes. The card is issued against a spending function, and the company decides who holds it. The card statement serves as the report.
Do these cards work offline
Yes, once added to a phone wallet — payment goes through contactless. Cash withdrawal from a virtual card is not possible.
What happens to subscriptions when a card is closed
The charges stop going through. That is why subscriptions live on their own card: it gets closed deliberately, not as collateral damage from an advertising incident.
Cards are issued from the payment cards page, the balance behind them is the wallet, and the company account is a business IBAN.