Visa Business Debit
Bank Cards
Your corporate planning efforts aside, it’s not always easy to predict the future. Reaching your objectives demands the ability to transact freely, but the little details keep getting in the way. Fortunately, getting a Visa business debit card might afford you more latitude.
What is a Visa business debit card?
A Visa debit card for business is a payment card. Unlike a business Visa credit card, however, these products draw their funds from a business account. There’s no revolving credit, interest or jumbled monthly statements.
Card-powered payments are important to businesses. On the other hand, the risks of issuing credit cards in your company’s name are many. From fraud and mistaken charges to building a bad credit history, your worries go beyond your APR. Of course, with rates hitting all-time highs in July 2018, interest is a problem too.
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, then you’re feeling excited about the prospect of more manageable, functional payments. If you’re a prudent business owner, then you’re probably equally wary about switching to something entirely new.
How does a Visa business debit card work?
Visa business debit cards include unique numbers, chips, card security codes and all the other trappings of modern payment methods. This means that they function identically to normal account-linked cards.
One big difference lies in the realm of control. With a regular card, you have to wait until you get a bill or a reimbursement form from your employee to discover problems, such as: fraudulent purchases or fund misallocations. With Visa business debit, you get to set the rules beforehand and completely dodge trouble by
- Prohibiting unauthorized purchases like snacks or magazines
- Limiting the money that someone can spend in a given day, week, or month
- Only putting giving someone access to a set amount of money
Why do businesses use Visa debit cards?
Most small businesses know that the interest-rate game is stacked in the house’s favor. The odds may not be as bad as throwing everything on your favorite color at the casino, but in the end, you’ll pay dearly for necessary privileges, such as spending on the go and letting your workers use company funds.
Businesses use debit cards because they make handling expenses and purchases simpler. Companies want to focus on expanding, developing new product offerings and engaging consumers, not running marathons to keep up with their credit card bills. Visa debit cards let them spend less time and money on funding essential transactions.
Can a Visa business debit card be used like a credit card?
Yes and no. Visa debit cards work anywhere that normal credit does, and they take advantage of the same digital payment networks. It’s worth noting, however, that you can’t get an overdraft or accidentally exceed some mystical credit limit. As with a regular debit card, you’re only allowed to spend what’s in the account.
Can a Visa business debit card be used online?
Most prepaid Visa business debit card products let you choose what kind of payment tool you prefer. For instance, you might get a bunch of normal cards to give your workers or obtain number-only virtual cards to authorize routine departmental spending.
Fortunately, Visa debit cards for business use are flexible. They’re right at home on the internet, and the better ones include apps that let you manage your accounts, view spending alerts and oversee your enterprise as it ticks. Thanks to secure technologies like 256-bit encryption, these cards are perfect for business-to-business procurement and other commonplace transactions.
What are Visa business credit cards?
Visa business credit cards also come in different forms, such as procurement cards for healthcare companies and travel cards for non-profits. Instead of letting you prepay for your transactions as needed, however, they make you sit through the torture of filling out an application.
If your company and personal credit histories are good enough to satisfy the provider’s high standards, then you can get approved for a card. Even after all of that, however, you’ll lack critical protections that the best debit cards offer, such as
- Independent accounts,
- Up-to-the-second spending history tracking and instantaneous report generation,
- Multiple cards, and
- Per-card spending limits.
Considering such glaring weaknesses, it’s no small wonder that business credit cards cause so much premature graying. With costs that exceed most Visa business debit card fees and fewer federally mandated user protections, it’s hard to see why anyone would still go with credit.
Expense management gets smarter
Business owners love business debit because it’s far more potent than consumer credit cards. Sure, banks are finally getting their heads in the game by offering smartphone-compatible apps. Running a business, however, takes a bit more knowledge than balancing your family checking account at the kitchen table does. Not that your finances are any less important, but companies spend more often and more profoundly, exposing themselves to more significant risks.
How do modern card providers strike a balance between flexible, responsive payment systems and business-oriented security? Most offer a variety of features to bridge the gap, such as
- Software APIs that let companies program their payment solutions
- Precise spending reporting that reveals insights about each card user’s habits
- Categorical transaction rules that let business owners decide what kinds of purchases, such as fuel, meals or office supplies, are allowed in advance
Is a Visa business debit card safer than a business credit card?
When it comes to business payment card safety, bad practices can lead to ruin. For instance, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners said that in 2018 poor internal controls were implicated in almost half of all business fraud events. With fraud schemes often taking months or years to be discovered and accounting for median losses of $130,000 per incident, improving the way you work seems like a good idea.
Some debit cards might beat business credit cards in terms of safety. Because these cards “check in” with you more often by sending alerts to your smart device and customized cloud dashboards, you’re not as likely to be caught unaware.
Should my company make the switch?
How can an organization benefit from rethinking its payment systems? While it depends on the firm in question, enterprises that transition tend to appreciate these Visa business debit card benefits:
You don’t have to micromanage your employees
When you use Visa business debit cards, you always know what’s happening inside your corporate ecosystem. It’s easy to visualize cash flows, allocate funds and learn from your disbursement practices to anticipate and respond to need. Best of all, you get these perks without ever having to hound your team about spending habits.
Your accounting department’s work is streamlined
Employee expense reimbursement and receipt tracking should help you operate efficiently, but they make inescapable resource demands. To reimburse workers properly, you need to intake receipts, associate them with independent transaction records and fill out extra tax forms. You may also have to intervene if employees disregard the rules.
Debit solutions give you all this mission-critical feedback in a convenient format. Instead of having to jump through rings of fire in a chase for expense data, the information comes to you via your preferred devices.
Your business is freer to grow
Visa business debit cards let you do more than spend and track spending. You can set limits instead of micromanaging employees. Instead, you can spend time on your business.
Keeping teams running on vital projects and settling vendor accounts smoothly. At the same time, you’ll be able to have employees pay for utility bills, office rent, or business hardware.
Finding the Best Visa Business Debit Card
What should you consider when searching for a Visa business card? The best Visa business debit cards come with features like
- Fast-approval account set up
- No-credit-check account sign-ups
- Free trials
- Anti-fraud features, such as encrypted data transmissions
- Real-time spending and balance control
- FDIC insurance
Finding a Visa debit card for your enterprise doesn’t have to be hard. Bento for Business is the option that small companies and mature industry leaders turn to when they need payment tools that promote their growth. With thousands of happy clients who swear by the power to categorize spending and restrict certain purchases, this card is keeping business leaders more informed and ready to face challenges.
Your payment cards should make it easy to decide how money gets spent on the fly. They should also integrate with the business tools you depend on most, like QuickBooks and your smartphone. Whether you use cards to fund fuel purchases or overnight restocking operations, they need to keep up with the way you pay.
Bento for Business is ready to help your company go places. Learn why Fortune, Forbes, Capterra, and others love this Visa debit card by signing up for a free 60-day trial now or calling us at 866.220.8455.
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