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What is Soldo?
Soldo Ltd is a London-based financial services company founded by Carlo Gualandri, who also founded Italy's first online bank. The company was founded in 2014 and uses tagline "the brighter way to manage business spending."
It offers solutions for businesses looking to improve the way they track spending. This includes business payment cards, modernized expense reports, bookkeeping tools, and smarter ways to capture receipts.
Plans range from Soldo Uno (for one user), Soldo Pro, Soldo Premium, and Soldo Custom.
How do Soldo cards work?
Soldo offers prepaid Mastercards® designed to replace traditional corporate credit cards. Their aim is to give real-time visibility over company spending, and let card holders - your employees - work more effectively.
Prepaid cards are pre-loaded with funds, so employees can't spend beyond their limit. Much like debit cards, there's no possibility to go into credit and get caught with unexpected expenses.
The cards are connected to a Soldo account, which lets companies monitor business spending from one place. In a couple of clicks, finance teams can track spending for the whole company and see where money is going.
Top-ups are available through the mobile app. A manager is notified of a new request and can approve or deny it instantly, from anywhere.
What are Soldo cards used for?
Soldo cards are best used as a replacement for corporate credit cards. Whereas most businesses are only comfortable having a handful of corporate cards - usually held by directors - Soldo cards can be given to any employee.
For traveling employees, these cards give them access to company funds while on the road. This removes the need for expense reports, as team members don't need to use their own money for work expenses.
Unlike classic company cards, businesses can have as many Soldo prepaid cards as they need. How many you use will depend on the plan you choose. This could mean one for every single employee, or you may choose to limit them to the employees actually traveling often.
Soldo also offers virtual cards for online spending. These are an alternative to using the same company card on hundreds of websites, which can pose a serious fraud risk.
Alternatives to Soldo cards
Soldo is one several interesting options for small businesses and growing companies alike. Here are a few to consider.
Spendesk
Spendesk is the leading spend management platform built for finance teams. It offers employee debit cards, virtual cards, invoice and expense management, and effortless spend reporting.
Finance teams can set clear, simple rules for employees. These include custom limits at the employee or team level, and simple workflows where a manager's approval is needed. Which means that everybody has access to necessary funds, but nobody can pay outside the lines.
The result is an easy-to-use experience for card holders, and complete control for finance teams.
And perhaps the biggest benefit relates to receipts. Spendesk users report 98% of expense receipts collected on time, thanks to rules and notifications which ensure team members don't forget.
Spendesk integrates with Xero, Quickbooks Online, and Slack, and lets users export all spend data to their accounting software in a couple of clicks.
It's simply the most effective spend management system available.
Revolut cards
In both a professional and private setting, Revolut is designed to make spending money easier. It too offers employee debit cards, an intuitive mobile app, and quick set-up.
Revolut also offers virtual cards for safer online spending, and offers more visibility over spending than traditional corporate credit cards. This is thanks largely to its mobile app, which lets any user check their balance or PIN from anywhere, and quickly look back through transactions.
While not designed specifically for finance teams, Revolut can be an easy and effective way to give employees access to company money when they need it.
Stripe virtual cards
Known more as a payment portal than a card provider, Stripe offers virtual cards to let companies spend online. Though not as simple to use as Spendesk or Revolut, it may be a good option for companies wanting truly custom payment methods.
Stripe's API lets businesses create white-labeled virtual cards to suit their needs. While not for everyone, this could be useful for companies with strong technical skills and the desire to create something bespoke.
A smart alternative to petty cash
No matter which of these modern payment cards you choose, one key benefit is the shift away from old fashioned petty cash. Instead of a box full of money and a loose tracking system, you have accessible cards that any employee can safely use, without serious risks of overspending or fraud.
Choose a smart card supplier that gives employees the freedom they need to work effectively, and keeps finance teams in control.