Spendesk | Virtual debits cards for safe online spending

Reduce risk

Shield your company from internal and external fraud and abuse with single-use cards.
Use easily

All teams and employees can use it in seconds, with no special training required.
Boost productivity

Employees and managers can focus on core tasks, without wasting time on admin tasks.
Monitor spend

Online and offline transactions are displayed in real time in the spending dashboard.

Create unique virtual cards

Every card has its own card number and expiry date, different from your standard physical cards. Plus, payments are made in a team member’s name, so you always know who made the purchase.

Once the payment is made, the card becomes useless. So you have virtually no risk of fraud. Instead, you have a clear payment trail and always know where ever cent of company money goes.

Request, approve, pay, & bookkeep

Every transaction begins with a request from a team member. Their manager approves, and the requester can pay instantly. They upload their receipt, and the pre-accounting work is already done!

Every transaction has a date, amount, approver, rationale, and receipt. All you have to do is send them to your accounting tools.

Manage subscriptions the smart way

Use recurring virtual cards for smart subscription management. Each card has unique details and is assigned to a spender, so you always know who in which team manages each subscription.

Cards can be paused or updated at any time, unlike your main company credit card. They can even be reassigned when an employee leaves or the subscription changes teams.

Get real-time spend visibility

Waiting for the card statement each month means you never really know what’s been spent. And more importantly: by whom. Check virtual card payments any time in Spendesk, at the company level, by team, or by individual.

You have up-to-date spend data at all times, and can adjust rules and budgets whenever you need.

Virtual debit cards make everyone’s life easier

Martin Pannier Product @Iziwork

Gabrièle de Lamaze Head of Customer Success @Plezi

Aaron Townsend Financial Controller @ Habito

Employees

Make online purchases with limited virtual cards, and request approval where needed. Receive notifications and reminders to upload receipts after each transaction.

Managers

Approve requests in real time when your team needs to go above set thresholds. Get full visibility over all live subscriptions in a dedicated tab, and stay up to date on your team’s budget.

Finance & Accounting

See online operational spending as it happens, review information and receipts in a dedicated interface. Have all the necessary information to prepare month-end reports. And never chase receipts again.

FAQs about virtual cards

Virtual credit and debit cards are primarily used for online purchases. Instead of sharing the company card between employees - and using the same details all over the internet - users instantly create a unique virtual credit card with an expiration date in the very near future.

These cards have two primary uses:

Single-use cards are used for one purchase only. As soon as the transaction is complete, the card is no longer valid and no other purchases can be made. This virtually eliminates the risk from hackers or ongoing fraud.
Recurring cards are designed for subscriptions, where the same amount is taken by the same provider every month or year. These cards can only be used with the chosen vendor, as approved by a manager or the finance team. They can be paused or cancelled at any time, or reassigned to a new user if an employee leaves the company.

As the name suggests, virtual cards are entirely virtual. But you can use them to spend online in the same way you would a physical payment card. They have their own card numbers, expiry dates, and security (CVV) codes.

Unlike Google Pay or Apple Pay, your virtual card doesn’t use the same card details as your plastic bank card. This means you get unique card details for each purchase, which gives you added security when using these cards on dozens of websites. If the card details are stolen, they can’t be used for any other purchase.

They are still Visa or Mastercard cards and operate on the same network as physical payment methods.

As above, each transaction has unique card details and its own virtual card number. If the details are ever hacked or stolen, they’re useless for further transactions.

Spendesk purchases also require approval, based on the spending limits you set. If you want to limit certain transactions to the right people, or to require two levels of approval before a large purchase, you can.

And at checkout, users need to use a security code sent to their phone number, or log into the app. Just like other online banking purchases, two-factor authentication keeps your money safe.

Most importantly, Spendesk gives you a complete audit trail of all company spending. Which means you always know exactly which card payment led to a transfer of funds, who made the payment, who approved it, and why.

No more maverick spend, and no chance of unexplained payments.

Spendesk client companies load funds onto the platform specifically for use with Spendesk. This means that no employee has direct access to the company’s main accounts or account details. This provides further protection against fraud or misuse.

Spendesk’s virtual cards are issued in the name of the user - usually an employee or manager in your business. Other than the purchaser’s name, no personal data is transferred to the merchant to complete the transaction.

If a billing address is required, this will be the registered company office.

Spendesk’s paid pricing plans come with unlimited virtual cards. Because you need one virtual card per transaction, you shouldn’t be limited by the number of cards you create.