How our virtual cards are helping business customers 💳

One of the first things you’ll need when you set up a business, is a dedicated business bank account. Set that up, and your provider will usually send you a physical card that you can use to pay for things your business needs.

Now, that’s all fine and dandy when you’re a small startup, but as soon as your company starts to grow, you’ll find that you’ll have to start paying for a lot of different things - everything from the all-essential office tech to software subscriptions, all on the same card. And here’s where things start to get complicated.

As a business owner, you’ll want to keep things tidy, and to know exactly where your money goes. But unless your accountant has a lot of free time, managing this process can (and will be) an absolute pain - that is, unless you have virtual cards on your side.

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What are virtual cards? 💳

We’re sorry for those of you who’ve already figured it out, but the answer is literally in the name.

A virtual card is a type of card that doesn’t come printed on a piece of plastic (or metal 😏), but instead lives inside your online banking portal or app - so you don’t have to worry about losing it down the back of your sofa.

Virtual cards work exactly like regular cards, allowing you to pay for products and services as you would with a physical card, directly from your phone or laptop.

The benefits of virtual cards 👇🏻

Firstly, virtual cards are completely free for Revolut Business customers. You can generate up to 20 different cards per month, and spend up to £50k on each. Not bad, eh?

Virtual cards can be used for all types of expenditure, but they’re especially useful for grouping purchases together and keeping track of your spending. For instance, many of our customers have one virtual card for each cost type - things like subscriptions, ads, physical goods, kitchen supplies etc. - which makes it really easy to separate and track spending. Oh and it literally takes seconds to set one up:

Keep going... 🤔

We love seeing all of the innovative ways people find to use their virtual cards. One popular use is to pay for subscription services or one-off payments.

Users simply key in the virtual card details for payment and since it’s the only spend on that card, it’s easy to see at a glance what has been spent, right from the app.

Another benefit of virtual cards is security - and in our view, this is the real game-changer. You can use a virtual card for one-off large purchases from new suppliers, and if you have the slightest doubt about how your supplier handles card details, you can disable the card immediately after making the purchase, leaving no chance of your security being compromised. Like magic, only considerably more nerdy. 🤓

Can I control the cards in the same way as physical cards? 🤷‍♂️

With physical cards we give you, the administrator, control - you can lock them in the app at any time (and unlock them again, of course). We offer the same level of control for virtual cards, with the ability to re-generate details when you need a new card - all in just a few clicks.

How much does it cost and are there limits? 💰

There is no fee for using virtual cards and if you're a corporate customer, you can create up to 20 per month and spend up to £50k per card -  not too bad, eh? For freelancers, we keep things simple, with a limit of just two cards.

Keen to get going? Pop in your email address below and sign up for a free Revolut Business trial with no strings attached. And as always, we love your feedback - so whether you’re already a virtual card user, or you have questions about becoming one, drop us a comment below. 👇🏻

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