- What is an Expense Card and how does it work?
- How our Expense Cards work
- The business case for Expense Cards
- Expense Cards vs. company credit cards
- Expense Cards vs. out-of-pocket spend
- Expense Card provider comparison
- How to get started
What is an Expense Card and how does it work?
Put simply, an Expense Card is a prepaid or virtual card your business gives to employees so they can cover approved expenses – like travel, meals, subscriptions or per diems – without using their own money.
Traditional out of pocket methods still have their place (and will always have their place, in my humble opinion). But sometimes, it’s better to equip employees with the right funds upfront.
That’s where Expense Cards factor in. It gives your team the flexibility to spend when they need to – within the guardrails you set – while finance retains full visibility and control.
But not all Expense Cards are the same. While plenty of providers offer card solutions, many still leave finance teams stuck in disconnected workflows (logging into multiple systems, reconciling manually, and chasing receipts long after the fact).
That’s exactly the kind of friction we’ve set out to remove.
How our Expense Cards work
Many finance teams already deploy prepaid cards – but syncing them with expense systems usually adds complexity. You end up chasing receipts across platforms, importing CSVs, and duplicating admin.
That’s why we built our own card experience, directly inside Webexpenses. No extra vendors. No extra contracts. Just one licence, one platform, and total visibility.
Webexpenses Expense Cards are fully integrated into the platform – no plug-ins, no switching tools. Whether virtual or physical, you can issue a card in seconds and control how it’s used from one place.
You can fund cards on demand, set spending rules by user, role, or event, and track every transaction in near real-time. Receipts are automatically matched, categorised, and ready for reporting – no extra apps, no manual reconciliation. Everything is managed in one unified workflow.
The business case for Expense Cards
Giving employees more autonomy doesn’t mean less control. With our Expense Cards, you can set spending rules in advance – and stop overspending before it happens.
You’ll see every transaction as it happens, eliminate out-of-policy purchases, and dramatically reduce admin and reconciliation work. It also gives you cleaner, more consistent data (ideal for better forecasting and budgeting).
Fewer systems also means less vendor management – and fewer logins for your team.
From an employee’s perspective, Expense Cards remove the stress of paying out-of-pocket or waiting for reimbursements. They know what’s allowed and can’t accidentally overspend.
Every card can be issued virtually to a digital wallet, pretty much instantaneously. Every submitted receipt is matched automatically. That means less admin, more trust, and more time to focus on actual work.
Expense Cards vs. company credit cards
Traditional credit cards weren’t built for modern, fast-moving teams. They’re often shared between departments, lack granular controls, and create reconciliation headaches for finance. Worse still, they expose the business to risk – with limited visibility until after the spend.
Webexpenses cards flip that model. You can issue virtual or physical cards in seconds, set individual limits by user, team, or category, and control spend at the point of purchase. You get near real-time tracking, instant notifications, and full control from a single system.
It’s a safer, smarter, and more scalable way to manage company spend – with far less friction for finance and users alike.
Expense Cards vs. out-of-pocket spend
Reimbursement has its place – but it’s not right for everything. We’ve supported traditional spend-and-reclaim for over 25 years, and for mileage, out-of-pocket, or ad-hoc expenses, it remains the go-to.
But for day-to-day, repeatable, or planned spend – like per diems, travel, team lunches, or subscriptions – Expense Cards make a lot of sense. They cut down manual claims, reduce delays, and give finance teams visibility and control before money is spent.
The aim isn’t replacing reimbursements. Instead, an expense card gives you the flexibility to use the right tool for the job. And now, with Webexpenses, you can do both.
Expense Card provider comparison
Something to consider when you’re comparing expense cards, is that you shouldn’t just compare expense cards. Instead, you should compare the various expense cards on the market – and how they slot into a wider spend management platform.
I’d argue that you should always do this – but you should especially look beyond purely expense cards if you’re a complex organisation (let’s say, for ease, if you’re in that 50 – 400 headcount range or -larger).
The market offers lots of choices. Webexpenses is one of many, and our competitors definitely have their own unique strengths. The table below will help you understand these nuances.
| Feature/ Capability | Webexpenses | Payhawk | Pleo | Concur |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reimbursements included | Yes – seamless, built-in | Not integrated, manual or separate process | Available, but secondary to expend card | Yes, but slower and more admin-heavy |
| Pricing model | All-inclusive, simple per-user | Complex pricing – £149+/month for <50 employees | Pricing increases per card/user, regardless of usage | ~£9 per claim + extra for modules |
| Card setup and top-up flexibility | Virtual or physical, unlimited, instant issue/remove. | Requires group-level rules, less flexible | 3 day minimum to load money onto cards (Can be up to 8 days). | No expense card offered |
| Expense policies and enforcement | Highly customisable, policy-led workflows | Department-level grouping, rigid enforcement | Light rules, suitable for startups, less so for scale | No in-system enforcement, relies on manual review |
| Audit trail and approval visibility | Near real-time visibility + full audit history | High approver burden, each item submitted individually | No clear audit trail on card spend | Limited visibility and relies on post-hoc reporting |
| Implementation and support | In-house onboarding + 24/7 digital expert support | External onboarding + limited weekend support | Tiered support (based on price plan) | Support often outsourced or delayed |
| Carbon tracking | Full expense-level CO₂ reporting, not just card spend | Only on card transactions | Unclear/Not supported | May be available as a bolt-on |
| Best for… | Scaling businesses who want flexibility & full control | Enterprises with fixed processes + dedicated ops resource | Startups or small teams focused on cards over compliance | Large corporates needing bundled travel + expense |
Our card is powered by Mastercard and issued through our trusted global partner, Adyen. Setup is fast, and pricing is flexible (based on active users, with cards as an optional add-on).
How to get started
So – what is an Expense Card? It’s a smarter way to manage company spend, with less admin and more control. But more importantly: it’s now part of Webexpenses.
That means whether you prefer cards, claims, or a mix of both – you can do it all in one place, under one roof, with the visibility and control your business needs.
Getting started is easy. We’ll help you create cards, set your rules, and get full oversight from day one. You can issue as many cards as you need, all managed inside Webexpenses.
Visit here to request a demo or talk to us about pricing.
Simon Connell
Chief Product Officer
