Corporate cards for growing businesses

Similar to personal debit or credit cards that are issued to individuals, banks and other financial institutions like Aspire also provide debit or credit cards to corporate entities. Such cards, which are issued to companies or businesses are called corporate cards. The businesses in turn may choose to distribute these corporate cards, among their employees for business-related expenses.

However, the liability to pay any charges that are incurred on these corporate cards is that of the company. Corporate cards make it simple for employees to spend on behalf of the company without paying it out of their own pockets and waiting for reimbursements later. For businesses, it allows them to track expenditures with ease, set limits on card spending, and delegate spending while having control. Corporate cards are also specifically designed to provide numerous rewards and benefits for the company as well as its employees which makes corporate cards very profitable for businesses.

Earlier, businesses used to issue corporate cards only to company directors or senior managers. However, this may cause a bottleneck as your company scales as employees at different levels may need to undertake corporate expenses.

The modern approach to issuing corporate cards is by understanding the needs at a role level. Employees in certain roles such as sales, client servicing, purchase or marketing department often tend to spend money on behalf of the company. Also, certain designations like mid-level managers who meet with clients regularly, or need to make business trips frequently on behalf of the company are potential candidates to issue a corporate card to.

In today’s financial ecosystem, you can avail virtual corporate cards as well as physical corporate cards. Physical cards are the normal tangible cards that have existed in the market for years. Virtual cards are digital cards which reside in your phone, tablet, laptop etc. and have no physical presence even though they function exactly the same as physical cards. While both cards have their own pros and cons, with increasing transactions being done online, virtual cards are replacing physical cards in the market. That said, you need not choose between any one of them, as many providers such as Aspire, offer you the flexibility of owning multiple virtual cards as well as a physical card at the same time at no extra cost.

Corporate cards can exist both as debit cards where your withdrawals are limited to the funds present in your account and also as credit cards where you can withdraw a specified amount as per your eligibility, and repay the same within a specified period. While credit cards are preferred for ensuring smooth cash flow, debit cards are preferred by businesses looking to stay within limits, and in control. Aspire corporate card is a corporate debit card, however, it offers you flexibility to get a credit line on the card, thus providing businesses control as well as extra funds to facilitate a smooth cash flow.

Traditionally corporate cards were designed for companies with high annual revenues, whereas business cards were for smaller companies. But with times changing quickly and the functioning of both companies large or small taking a more global, digital-first approach, the rewards of both corporate cards as well as business cards are gravitating towards providing more and more digital benefits. Instead of deciding on a card by what it is called, it is better to read into the detailed benefits of each card to understand which one will be more suited for your business needs.

At Aspire, we want you to pay the lowest rates in the market.

• Zero card activation fees
• Zero card transaction fees
• Great exchange rates

All Aspire cardholders will enjoy a minimum cashback of 1.2% on all spend. Our cashback promos are designed to help your business thrive, so take advantage of them!

Cashbacks are computed automatically at the end of each month based on your expenses. The cashback is then deposited into your business account by the 1st week of next month.

You will receive a separate email notification when the cashback has been processed.

You can create multiple cards for directors, employees, and even external individuals such as your accountant at no additional costs.

When issuing an Aspire card to an individual user, you can also name the card for specific company expenses (i.e.Facebook advertising expenses).

As an Admin, you can issue virtual cards to employees with spend limits at no additional costs. For employees already on Aspire, Admins can issue cards in the following ways:

1. Click on Debit cards to access your company cards page
2. Click on the "+ New card" button to initiate card creation
3. Select the user that you would like to create a card for and complete the required fields
4. Card is created immediately

You can issue cards during the invitation flow. Do note that Admins will not be able to issue to other account Admins, they can issue a card on their own. Please note, Cards for account Admins (directors) will be created automatically upon account activation.