Best prepaid debit cards for business

Panna Kemenes

15.12.22 (updated more than 1 year ago)

6 minute read

A prepaid business debit card allows you to manage employee spending while avoiding long expense reimbursement processes. Simply deposit funds into your prepaid debit card account, set expenditure parameters and you’re ready to go.

Let’s take a look at the best US prepaid debit cards for businesses.

Making international payments?
Discover Wise Business

Prepaid debit cards for business: Quick overview

Here’s a quick overview of the best prepaid business debit cards for businesses.

💳 Card	💡 Great for
PEX Prepaid Visa	Businesses who have high expenditure
Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card	Businesses who want a wide variety of control features and the ability to withdraw cash
Dash Prepaid Mastercard	Business who want a straightforward prepaid business debit card with no monthly fee
Emburse reloadable prepaid card	Businesses who work with remote employees
Mesh Plug & Pay™ corporate cards	Businesses who want a high monthly balance limit, no monthly fees, and a range of rewards

Best prepaid debit cards for business

Now that we’ve had an overview, let’s delve into the details of the best business prepaid debit cards in the US.

PEX Prepaid Visa

Key features:

The PEX Prepaid Visa card empowers your staff while controlling their spending limits.

Define spending limits based on the merchant category, cardholder, time, and department. This makes you flexible in controlling your staff at various levels.¹

The PEX mobile app makes this process easy to oversee and allows you to authorize payments quickly. Real-time transaction reporting also gives you greater insight over your company’s spending. Mobile receipt capture aids this process, simplifying the accounting process.¹

Your main PEX account has no minimum or maximum balance limit. Employee cards have a maximum balance of $25,000.²

With 24/7 customer support, PEX is always there to help.¹ PEX also integrates with accounting software, such as Xero and QuickBooks, simplifying bookkeeping.³

Fees:

PEX offers four different subscription levels, with custom price plans for non-profit organizations:

Base - no monthly subscription fee; up to five cards available; $8 USD per extra card per month
Core - $75 USD monthly subscription fee; up to 20 cards available; $4 USD per extra card per month
Pro - $200 USD monthly subscription fee; up to 100 cards available; $2 USD per extra card per month
Infinite - $300 USD monthly subscription fee; up to 150 cards available; $2 USD per extra card per month⁴

For the Core and Pro subscription plans, the monthly fee is waived every time you spend at least $50,000 USD in a month. PEX also offers a 60 day free trial.

Other fees PEX charge include:

PEX to business account ACH transfer fee: $5 USD
Returned Request Transfer fee: $25 USD
Card Expedite fee: $45 USD
Card Rush fee: $55 USD⁵

PEX doesn’t charge for ACH and wire transfers, and card replacement is also free of charge.⁵

International transaction fees:

PEX charge 0.8-1.5% when making international transactions. The fee depends on the country where the transaction occurred.⁵

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Different subscription packages to suit your business Limits can be customized by time, merchant category, individual cardholder and more No minimum or maximum balance limit for main account 24/7 customer support Integrates with Quickbooks, Xero, and other software Digital wallet cards available² 60 day free trial	Only wire or ACH transfers can be used to fund your account Withdrawing is not possible with the PEX Prepaid Visa

💡 Great for:
The PEX Prepaid Visa is great for businesses with high expenditure.

Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card

Key features:

With Bento’s Business Visa Debit Card, you have access to six methods of spending control. From limiting spending to weekdays only, to enabling telephone purchasing, Bento gives you control. Real-time transaction tracking in the Bento app eases this process.⁶ ⁷

Additionally, as the business owner, you can withdraw cash from ATMs with your Bento card.⁸

You can simplify your bookkeeping by integrating Bento with Xero and QuickBooks.⁹ With receipt capture, transaction-matching, and categorization, expenditure tracking is made one step easier.¹⁰ ¹¹

You can also take advantage of Bento Pay for B2B transactions. This frees you from writing checks or having to share sensitive card information.¹²

On top of this, Spend Limit and Fixed Value virtual cards are available.¹³

Fees:

With Bento, you can choose the subscription plan best suited to your business:

Starter - $29 USD per month; up to 10 cards
Team - $69 USD per month; up to 25 cards
Professional - $149 USD per month; up to 100 cards
Enterprise - customizable price; excess of 100 cards¹⁴

Bento also offers a 60 day free trial.

International transaction fees:

Bento doesn’t charge any fees on international transactions.¹⁴

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Virtual cards available No international transaction fees Various subscription plans 60 day free trial Bento Pay simplifies B2B payments Xero and QuickBooks integration Receipt capture and transaction matching to simplify expenditure tracking Ability for business owner to withdraw cash 6 methods to control employee spending	Withdrawing is restricted to the business owner only, excluding employees

💡 Great for:
Overall Bento is for business owners who need to withdraw cash and want a variety of control options.

Dash Prepaid Mastercard

Key features:

The Dash Prepaid Mastercard enables you to control employee spending while keeping costs low.

The card can be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted and employees are able to request funds through the app.¹⁵

You can easily freeze lost cards, disable permissions, capture receipts, and categorize transactions. You can also integrate Dash with QuickBooks to simplify the accounting process.¹⁶

A maximum of $100,000 USD can be held in your main Dash account, with a maximum balance of $10,000 USD for employee cards.¹⁷

Fees:

The Dash Prepaid Mastercard is free of monthly fees. This makes it an attractive option for startups and small businesses.

However, you’ll have to pay fees for:

Expedited shipping - $35.00 USD per Company Card fulfillment
Paper statements - $10.99 USD per month
Paper check issuance fee - $39.99 USD (in the event of account closure)¹⁷

International transaction fee:

Dash charges a fee of 3% of the total transaction value of international payments.¹⁷

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
No monthly fees Ability to control expenditure Employees can request funds through the app Integration with Quickbooks	Unable to withdraw cash Maximum balance restricted to $10,000 USD for employees and $100,000 USD in the main account

💡 Great for:
The Dash Prepaid Mastercard is best for businesses looking to save on monthly costs.

Emburse reloadable prepaid cards

Key features:

Emburse offers you virtual and physical cards with spending controls. The ability to issue virtual cards instantly allows you to empower and monitor your employees’ spending from afar.¹⁸

Receipt capture, real-time transaction monitoring and automatic categorizations keep money management easy.¹⁸

Emburse’s API also allows you to connect it to any accounting software, meaning you can use your existing one.¹⁹

Fees:

There are two subscription options for Emburse, depending on the amount of employees you have:

Business - no monthly fees; up to 100 employees
Enterprise - custom price; excess of 100 employees²⁰

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Business subscription plan is free of monthly fees Ability to create spending limits Receipt capture Real-time reporting Instantly issue virtual and physical cards	Not possible to withdraw funds from ATMs²¹

💡 Great for:
The Emburse prepaid card is great for businesses using remote workers who also want to save on monthly fees.

Mesh Plug & Pay™ corporate cards

Key features:

The Mesh Plug & Play corporate card comes with a maximum balance limit of $10,000,000 USD. The maximum card deposit for your employees is $20,000 USD per day.²²

Mesh offers a welcome bonus of $200 USD when you spend $3,000 USD within the first 2 months of opening an account. You can also earn an extra $300 USD when you link a Cloud or Marketing Budget to Mesh.²³

On top of this, for every transaction you make you’ll earn 1% cashback.²³

Mesh offers daily, weekly, and monthly spend controls. It also gives you real-time visibility of transactions, the ability to set up approval flows, and issue and suspend cards.²⁴

Additionally, you can integrate QuickBooks, Xero, and other software with Mesh, simplifying bookkeeping.²⁵

Fees:

The Mesh account is completely free of monthly fees.²³

International transaction fees:

Mesh charges a fee on international transactions. However, they don’t state how much this fee is.²²

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Free of monthly fees $200 USD welcome bonus High maximum balance limit of $10,000,000 USD Variety of control settings Virtual and physical cards Quickbooks and Xero integration capability 1% cashback on every transaction	ATM withdrawals are not possible

💡 Great for:
The Mesh card is a great option for those looking for a high balance limit without having to pay high monthly fees.

Managing an international team? Try Wise

If you’re on the hunt for a business debit card, then the Wise Business card could just be the one.

With the Wise Business card, you can set permissions and track expenditure across multiple currencies. Wise also integrates with QuickBooks for easy bill reconciliation.

There are also no monthly subscription fees or hidden costs. The card is available currently for single member LLCs and sole traders.

Find out more about Wise Business

Conclusion: What is the best prepaid card for a business?

Overall, the best business prepaid debit card is the one that best suits your needs.

If you work with remote employees, Emburse simplifies the process of issuing virtual cards. If, however, you have high expenditure, PEX would ease your operations.

For small businesses looking for a straightforward, low cost prepaid card, Dash is a great choice. But if a wide variety of features and the ability to withdraw cash are priorities, then Bento may be best suited to your business.

If you’re a sole trader or single member LLC, and frequently engage in international business, then the Wise Business card is your best bet. Wise Business is a safe, easy and low-cost way to manage international transfers. You’ll always get the real mid-market rate, and there are no hidden fees.

Source:

All sources checked December 15, 2022.

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.