Bento For Business

Hub: Business debit cards

Hub: Business Debit Cards

What is a business debit card?

People have increasingly turned to non-cash forms of payment, including paying with debit cards, in the last couple of decades. According to Nasdaq, debit card payments dramatically increased from 8.3 billion payments in 2000 to 47 billion payments in 2012. At the end of March 2015, there were 471 million Visa payment cards in the U.S. and 1.09 billion worldwide. Like consumers, businesses have also embraced this payment method.

Business debit cards are payment cards that are designed specifically to handle the needs of businesses. Like business credit cards, these cards have 16-digit credit card numbers and may be branded as Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express so that they can be used for purchases at most businesses.

Unlike credit cards, which are linked to revolving lines of credit, debit cards for businesses are linked to the company accounts. When the cards are used to purchase something or to make payments, the amount that is spent is subtracted from the account instead of adding to the company debt.

Company payment cards do not require credit checks, making them more accessible to small businesses. Some cards such as those offered by Bento for Business feature built-in spending controls and expense management tools, allowing business owners to have greater control of their business spending.

A debit card is a type of payment card that is linked to the owner’s account and can be used instead of cash to complete purchases. The cards are not linked to lines of credit and instead subtract money for payment directly from the linked accounts.

Business debit cards simplify spending

A business debit card is a payment card that is linked to your business’s account. It is not a business credit card because it doesn’t require a credit check and does not increase your business debt when it is used to make payments or purchases. A business debit card also helps businesses to manage expenses, control spending and prevent fraud.

A debit card for business from Bento for Business allows you to set preselected expense categories on each card. You can give your employees cards to use according to their job requirements. If they attempt to buy items that you have not authorized, the purchases will be declined, and you will be notified.

There are several different types of debit cards and choosing the right debit cards for business is important. Some business debit cards charge small fees while others do not. Some have spending and expense management features while others simply subtract money from your account when purchases are made without any spending controls.

Other types of debit cards may be prepaid and fillable cards that aren’t linked to an account but instead are preloaded with the amount that you choose. The cards from Bento are linked to your account, have spending controls, and expense management features. Funds held within Bento are FDIC insured to at least $250,000 through The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.

Corporate debit cards

Some companies rely on corporate credit cards to ensure that purchases are made in a timely manner and to control the expenses of larger companies. Bento offers corporate debit cards that are designed for companies that have 100 employees or more. These cards allow large companies to ensure that their departments and employees can buy supplies and pay vendors in a timely manner.

While there are a variety of different packages available at Bento at different price levels, companies that spend $20,000 per month or more do not have to pay anything for their cards from Bento. The corporate business debit cards can be fully integrated with your accounting software for better automation and fewer errors. Forbes featured the corporate cards and highlighted the benefits to companies of choosing Bento.

Expense management debit cards

Choosing to use expense management debit cards at your company is a smart move. Doing so can help you to eliminate employee reimbursements and expensive purchase processes while allowing you to have better control over the expenses of your company. Expense management debit cards from Bento for Business feature robust expense management tools and spending controls to help to keep spending in check.

Debit cards for expense management allow full integration with your existing accounting software so that data about each purchase is uploaded in real time to the relevant expense category. However, it is still important for your employees to save receipts when they use expense management credit cards. They can do so by taking pictures with their mobile devices so that the receipts are uploaded along with the spending information.

Construction debit cards

Construction business owners must constantly walk a tightrope while they work to meet project deadlines, keep their budgets under control and make certain that vendors are paid, and supplies are purchased on time. If you are a construction company owner, it is possible for you to be able to delegate payments and purchases to your employees with construction debit cards from Bento.

Unlike construction credit cards, the construction debit cards do not add to your company’s debt when purchases are made. The debit cards for construction businesses from Bento also allow you to preselect allowed purchases and expenses on each card, helping to rid you of the worry of employee fraud and abuse.

Church debit cards

According to a study from Duke University, there were an estimated 384,000 churches in the U.S.. Many of these churches do not have adequate accounting practices, and they are sometimes preyed upon by fraudsters and employees for internal thefts and embezzlements. With a debit card for church, your house of worship may better protect itself while making certain that the money is spent on the church’s business.

Church debit cards from Bento help churches to control expenses and to prevent fraud. Your church board can choose predetermined expense categories for each card. If a church employee tries to buy something else, the attempt will be denied. A church debit card is not a church credit card and is linked to your church’s account rather than driving up the debt on a revolving line of credit.

Gas debit cards

Whether your company has a few employees who are required to drive as a part of their jobs or you have a fleet of vehicles, managing your fuel and travel expenses can be a nightmare. Fuel debit cards can help to get rid of time-consuming reimbursement processes while also helping your business to prevent your employees from using their cards to purchase unauthorized items.

The gas debit cards at Bento are branded as Visas so that they can be used at any gas station. By contrast, a gas credit card that is issued by a national gas station company will only be able to be used at the company’s branded stores, meaning your employees may have to travel further to find stations to fill their tanks.

Gas debit cards from Bento are great for expense management. You can restrict the cards to pay-at-the-pump gasoline purchases only so that your employees can’t use them to buy unnecessary items inside of the stores. You can see how your employees are spending your money from your dashboard.

If you see that one employee’s spending is problematic, you can turn the card off with a click of a button instantly and address it accordingly. Debit cards for fleet management can help your business to keep its spending in check and to prevent fraud.

Healthcare debit cards

Companies that provide health care services perform a vital function in society. Health care workers may occasionally need to buy supplies for your business, and healthcare debit cards allow them to do this when the purchases are needed rather than having to spend their own money.

Healthcare debit cards are linked to your accounts so that the money is subtracted rather than adding to your debt. Good debit cards for healthcare businesses also offer expense management and spending controls. The healthcare cards at Bento for Business let you choose the types of purchases that your employees can make so that they can’t access your money for anything that you haven’t authorized.

Non-profit debit cards

The National Center for Charitable Statistics reports that there are 1,097,689 public charitable organizations, 368,000 other types of nonprofits and 105,030 private foundations in the U.S. Nonprofits perform a vital role, helping the less fortunate and contributing to society.

Nonprofits are sometimes victimized by internal thefts and external fraud schemes. Non-profit debit cards from Bento can help your organization to protect itself. You can eliminate reimbursements by using the non-profit debit cards for purchases. Debit cards for nonprofits are different than non-profit credit cards because they are linked to your account rather than driving up your organization’s debt on a revolving credit line.

Prepaid debit cards

Prepaid debit cards are cards that you can fund with the amount of money that you choose. You can then give the prepaid business debit cards to your employees to make purchases or payments at the time that they need to complete them rather than waiting to be reimbursed or having to go through a lengthy request and approval process.

Prepaid cards for business can also help you to control your expenses. The prepaid debit cards from Bento let you decide how much money to place on each card, the types of purchases that each employee can make and when your employees can use them. You can turn the cards off when your employees are not working.

Reloadable debit cards

Reloadable debit cards offer many benefits to small businesses. When you give reloadable debit cards to your employees, they can buy the things that your company needs to continue operating smoothly instead of waiting through a long payment or reimbursement process.

Also referred to as reloadable credit cards, the refillable debit cards from Bento let you set daily, weekly or monthly spending limits on each card. You can see how much money is left on each card and designate the amount that each card has on it from your central account.

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Bento for Business is a highly regarded company that counts thousands of businesses across the U.S. as satisfied customers. Bento enjoys a perfect score from Capterra and an 8.8 out of 10 from Trust Pilot. Bento is also rated as A+ by the Better Business Bureau.

When you choose Bento, you can try your cards for 60 days for free. The company allows you to choose up to 10 cards for a low fee of $29 per month. You will be able to allocate the amount of money to place on each card and restrict the spending categories according to the job requirements of your employees. To learn more, contact us today at 866.220.8455.