What is a Visa business credit card?
A Visa business credit card is a Visa that is designed to meet the unique needs of businesses. Business Visa credit cards have an attached revolving credit line and can be used wherever Visa is accepted. However, a business card offers additional features that are not available on consumer cards such as additional expense controls, rewards, discounts, and perks.
Businesses of all sizes use business credit cards to enjoy added flexibility in the spending that occurs at their companies. Approximately 335 million Visa credit cards are currently in circulation in the U.S., and a total of 764 million Visa cards are in circulation worldwide.
Business credit cards account for 18 percent of all of the spending that occurs on credit cards in the U.S. even though they only account for 4 percent of the total number of cards in circulation.
Visa is the largest card processor in the world and is popular with businesses and consumers alike because of the security features and the fact that it is accepted by millions of merchants around the globe.
What are the pros and cons of Visa business credit cards?
Visa business credit cards have several pros and cons. They give businesses added spending flexibility and can help to keep the business owners’ personal expenses separated from those of the businesses.
They also can be used nearly anywhere so that employees can purchase needed items at the time that they are needed rather than going through a lengthy purchase approval process. Visa business credit cards can also provide access to financing when businesses are experiencing temporary cash flow issues.
A small business Visa credit card can be difficult for some businesses to get. A business that is new or an owner that has imperfect credit might have trouble gaining approval for a Visa small business credit card.
Even if a business is able to secure approval, it may be difficult to find a Visa business credit card with no personal guarantee. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that many card issuers require that business owners personally guarantee the cards, which means that they will be liable in the event that something goes wrong with their credit cards.
What should you look for in the best Visa business credit card?
If you are trying to find the best Visa business credit card, it is important that you research different Visa business credit card offers online. A good business Visa credit card should offer expense management features and ways to track and control your business expenses.
You will also want to look for a business Visa credit card that offers the lowest interest rates and that preferably does not charge high annual fees. When you compare different Visa business credit card offers, you should look at the features of the cards. While you might find an offer for a Visa business credit card with rewards, the business-specific expense features might be more important to your bottom line in the long run.
How secure are Visa business credit cards?
Visa offers multiple security features to help to keep businesses safer. Today, a Visa credit card for business should be chipped. The chip in the cards offers an additional layer of security when the cards are used to make purchases at chip-enabled terminals when the buyers are present.
Visa business cards also use 256-bit SSL encryption technology, which helps to protect sensitive information from would-be thieves. Visa also offers controls to businesses to allow them to control payments by time, location, purchase category, and amount.
How can a Visa business credit card help with accounting?
A Visa small business credit card can help your company with its accounting in several ways. Many business credit cards allow you to automatically import transaction data into your existing accounting programs, which can save your AP personnel time and your company labor costs.
A business Visa credit card can also help you to get rid of costly and time-consuming payment approval processes for day-to-day transactions. Instead of requiring that employees submit requisition forms for every needed purchase, the employees can simply charge the items on the Visa small business credit cards that they have been given. This can help to save on transaction costs that may be higher than the value of the times that are purchased.
How you can help minimize business credit card abuse
While Visa business credit cards can help businesses to streamline their payments processes, they also have a risk of abuse. It is important for businesses that are considering switching their payment systems to credit cards to take steps to minimize the risk of credit card fraud by their employees or by external actors.
Businesses that intend to use a Visa credit card for business should have clearly written credit card policies in place. The policies should detail what types of purchases are authorized and which are not. The businesses should train all of the employees who will be allowed to use the credit cards on their policies.
Employees should also be trained to identify fraud and to report any suspicions that they might have. The businesses should carefully review their credit card statements at the end of each month and watch for suspicious transactions.
What are Visa business debit cards?
An alternative to a small business Visa credit card is a prepaid Visa business credit card or debit card. Visa business debit cards are not linked to revolving lines of credit. Instead, they are associated with the business’s own deposit account.
When employees use the cards, the purchases are subtracted from the business’s funds and will not add to the company’s debt. With Visa debit cards, it is unnecessary to search for a Visa business credit card with no personal guarantee. Since the cards are not credit cards, the business owner’s credit will not be impacted.
Visa debit cards for businesses are also better than getting a Visa business credit card with rewards. Many businesses do not use the rewards that are available to them but still are assessed interest and high annual fees that can eat into their profits.
Debit cards may not offer rewards, but they do offer extensive expense controls. The controls that are offered by Visa business cards can help companies to plug expense leaks, prevent fraud, and increase their profit margins.
Control with Visa business debit cards vs. Visa business credit cards
A business Visa credit card comparison with a business Visa debit card reveals some important differences between the controls that are available with the two types of Visa business cards. Business debit cards have much more expansive controls to help businesses rein in their business expenses and to prevent unauthorized purchases.
Visa business debit cards allow business owners to decide how much money to make available on each individual card, and the business owners can allocate different amounts to different cards. In addition to setting the total limits per card, the business owners can set daily spending limits on each of them.
Debit cards also allow business to set purchase category restrictions and merchant code restrictions. They can also restrict where the cards can be used and when they will work. Business owners can choose to turn the cards off when their employees are not at work and to turn them back on during the workdays. Finally, debit cards allow business owners to turn individual cards on or off instantly by tapping or clicking a button on a smartphone screen, tablet, or computer.
Business debit card policies and procedures
Businesses that plan to replace their existing payment systems with Visa debit cards need to have strong expense policies and procedures in place. The policies and procedures should clearly outline the expectations of the business for how the cards should be used.
The policies should outline the types of purchases that are authorized and those that are not. Employees should undergo regular training about the cards, and they should also be trained in fraud-prevention measures and methods of identifying the signs of fraud. Even if something goes awry, the ability to integrate the expense policies with the cards through the use of the controls can help to protect businesses from unauthorized purchases.
How is employee expense management made simpler online and electronically by using a Visa business debit card?
Expense management is vital for the success of a business. Your expense management includes all of the systems and tools that you use to track your business expenses and to keep them under control. A Visa business debit card can help to make employee expense management simpler in several ways.
Visa business debit cards can be integrated with your accounting software so that information is uploaded automatically into the correct expense categories. Your employees can photograph receipts so that they are transmitted together with the transaction information.
These features can allow you to avoid manual data entry mistakes and can help to prevent accounting fraud. Tax time can also be easier because you will have all of the documents that you need in electronic form.
The world of payment processing is moving forward: Don’t get left behind
Other payment solutions are now available to benefit businesses such as virtual cards. These are credit card numbers and CVV codes that you can randomly generate so that you can make person-not-present purchases online or via the phone. While the numbers represent your underlying account, they can’t be used by employees, vendors, or hackers to gain access to your accounts.
Virtual card numbers can be set to expire immediately once a transaction is completed. There are also other types of virtual cards such as procurement cards and ghost cards that can help to make your business’s expense management simpler. With today’s technology, it has never been easier for you to take control of your business expenses.
How can a Visa business debit card help my company grow?
Using a Visa debit card for your business can aid in your company’s growth. The cards can help you to cut your business expenses and to prevent fraud. You can divert the money that you save into funding the growth of your business.
When your employees are able to immediately pay for the goods and services that you need, it can help you to build goodwill. Your suppliers and vendors will know that your company always promptly pays for the goods and services that you need.
Why the best Visa business credit card could be a Visa business debit card
Both business credit cards and business debit cards have their own benefits. However, businesses might benefit more from debit cards because of their spending controls, ease of use, and fraud protection features.
Debit cards that offer extensive expense management features are less likely to be abused. The spending is more transparent because you can see all of the transactions that have been completed in real time on your online dashboard.
Customizability of Visa business debit cards
Visa business debit cards are highly customizable. You can set the types of restrictions that fit your business needs the best. You can also have individual employee names on the cards that you distribute to them along with your company name and logo.
You are able to generate virtual numbers for one-off purchases online from untrusted vendors. You can also generate procurement cards that can be used by a select group of employees to make purchases online over a set duration. Ghost cards can be generated and assigned to different departments within your company so that you can track the spending at the departmental level.
Debit cards allow you to limit spending by time, place, and type of store. Finally, you can also shut a card down remotely from your smartphone at any time.
Why get Visa business debit cards for your company?
The Bento for Business Visa debit cards come with built-in expense controls that can help businesses to gain control over their business expenses. Business owners can establish restrictions that can control when individual cards will work, where they can be used, and how much can be spent each day. Business owners can also turn individual cards on or off at any time from their dashboards.
The cards have earned hundreds of positive reviews from thousands of satisfied customers on respected sites such as Capterra and Trust Pilot. There is a free 60-day trial, and businesses can request a demonstration of how the cards work. To talk to a customer service representative, call 866.220.8455.