What is the best prepaid card?
Prepaid cards are very popular, and the market continues to grow. These cards are reloadable cards that you can choose how much money you want to place on them. Prepaid business cards have also grown in popularity because they can be used to make purchases from anywhere and have built-in spending limits.
In 2014, a study by Mercator Advisory Group found that 56 percent of adults in the U.S. had purchased a prepaid card in the past year. From 2006 to 2012, the number of purchases that were made with these cards increased by 18.6 percent each year. The best prepaid card for business can help you to reduce losses and to get your expenses under control.
Researching the best prepaid cards
There are many cards available on the market, but not all cards offer the types of features that businesses need. To find the best prepaid cards, you will need to carefully review the features the cards offer and your own business’s needs.
Consumer Reports states that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued some consumer protections in 2016 for these cards, but those will not be effective until April 2019. Some companies are already implementing them on their own. These include loss protection, protection from unauthorized purchases, free access, account access, and FDIC insurance up to $250,000 for deposits.
How does the best prepaid card compare to a business credit card?
The best prepaid debit card differs from a business credit card in several ways. Since it is not a credit card, you do not have to submit to a credit check to be approved. Credit cards check the credit of businesses and their owners, making them less accessible to small business owners.
You can choose how much money to load on the card, allowing you to decide your own spending limit. You will not be charged interest because the card is linked to your own account instead of to a revolving line of credit. A prepaid business card should also let you restrict spending and control the types of expenses that the card can be used for.
Fraud can be prevented with help from the best prepaid cards
Small businesses often do not have enough resources to have in-house accounting departments. Having weaker controls in place, for example not using one of the best prepaid cards to manage expenses, is associated with a heightened risk of fraud. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, small businesses lost a median of $204,000 per fraud scheme, which was almost double the amount that was lost by large companies.
The best prepaid credit cards can help businesses to prevent fraud. The business Visa debit cards from Bento for Business allow you to restrict the allowed purchase types on each card, to set spending limits by the day or week and to see how your money is being spent from your online dashboard. Unauthorized purchases are declined at the time of sale.
Fraud case study
A Georgia credit card fraud case illustrates how businesses that aren’t using prepaid cards might be taken advantage of. An employee of the Georgia Military College spent $3,126.70 on the school’s credit card. Her thefts occurred over several months before she was discovered.
The woman, Sally Price, paid her rent, utility bills, and cell phone bill with the credit card. If the college had given her a prepaid card with spending controls and restrictions built in, her unauthorized purchases would not have been allowed.
Spending and expense management controls: How the best prepaid cards help accounting departments
Accounting departments must keep track of their companies’ expenses and make certain that the books remain balanced. According to Accounting Today, dealing with things like reimbursements and manual entry of purchases can make their work more difficult.
The best prepaid cards let you choose the expense categories that each card can be used to pay. The data uploads automatically into your company’s accounting software, automating the entry and allowing you to get rid of reimbursement forms.
Examples of how the best prepaid cards can eliminate problems
A short illustration of using the best prepaid debit cards might help you to understand how the cards can eliminate problems. If your employees make purchases and submit reimbursement forms, they have to wait to receive their money back and might be resentful. Why deal when this when it can be easily prevented by using the best prepaid cards?
Your employees may also submit fraudulent reimbursement forms, exposing your company to potential losses. When you instead give your employees the cards with spending controls in place, you can get rid of the reimbursement process and eliminate these potential problems.
Expense management benefits
Good expense management practices are crucial for the success of your business. Using such tools as the virtual business debit cards from Bento for secure online purchases and the debit cards for other types of purchases can provide you with expense management benefits.
You can limit what employees can purchase and when they can use the cards. You can choose to turn the cards off when your employees are not working. Bento gives you 24-hour access through your online dashboard, allowing you to check the balances on each card and the purchases that each employee has made. The API that Bento uses fully integrates with your accounting software so that the purchase data is uploaded automatically into your expense categories.
Why choose Bento?
Bento for Business specializes in helping businesses to reduce their fraud risk and control spending with the help of the best business Visa debit cards. The company has thousands of satisfied business customers and has earned top reviews from Capterra and several national publications.
Your deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC, and Bento uses the highest level of 256-bit SSL encryption technology and DigiCert to further protect you. Try the Bento cards for 60 days free. Call 866.220.8455 to learn more.
