Your employee is on a business trip to Singapore, he needs to pay for the hotel urgently, but the personal card is rejected, and the money transfer from the company will take two days. Is this a familiar situation? In 2025, advance reports and transfers to personal accounts are anachronistic. We are looking at how modern corporate cards solve this problem and why it is not only convenient, but also beneficial for business.

First of all, it is important to dispel the main myth. A corporate card is not an analog of a company's checking account, from which you can pay large invoices to suppliers for goods or equipment.

This is a payment instrument issued in the name of a specific employee (individual) to cover his operating expenses in the interests of the company.

What the card is ideal for:

• Travel expenses: air tickets, hotels, taxis, car rentals.
• Representative expenses: paying bills at restaurants during meetings with partners.
• Online operational purchases: payment for subscriptions to SaaS services, hosting, purchase of software licenses, payment for advertising.
• Minor household needs: purchase of stationery, payment for courier services.

What the card is NOT intended for:

• Payment of large B2B bills for raw materials or equipment.
• Transfers to other legal entities.
• Payment of wages.

This is a fundamental difference that needs to be understood in order to properly manage financial flows in a company.

The transition from cash and advance reports to corporate cards gives businesses four key advantages.

1. Full real-time control. The manager or finance department sees all transactions on all cards in a single online interface. You can instantly set or change limits for any employee, block the card, or track the balance.
2. A radical simplification for accounting. The era of collecting receipts and advance reports is a thing of the past. All transactions on the card are already expenses of the company, which are automatically recorded in the system. This reduces paperwork and minimizes the risk of errors.
3. Direct tax benefit. This is the most important, but not obvious advantage. All documented expenses on corporate cards (receipts, invoices) are attributed to the company's expenses. This legally reduces the income tax base. In fact, the government will co-finance your travel expenses.
4. Safety and flexibility. In case of loss, the card is instantly blocked, and the money remains in the company's account. Multi-currency cards allow employees to pay in local currency, avoiding double conversion and saving money.

The card issue is the final stage. The professional approach to the implementation of this system looks like this:

• Step 1: Needs analysis. The consultant examines the specifics of your business: how often and where employees travel, what types of expenses prevail, how many cards are needed, and what are the reporting requirements.
• Step 2: Develop a roadmap. Based on the analysis, a plan is drawn up: choosing the optimal payment system (Visa/ Mastercard), the type of cards (physical, virtual) and the appropriate financial institution (bank or EMI) that offers the best conditions.
• Step 3: Select and configure the platform. Software is being selected that will allow you to manage all cards and expenses from a single personal account.
• Step 4: Implementation and integration. The cards are issued to employees, their training is underway, and, if necessary, they are configured to upload data to the company's accounting systems (for example, 1C, Xero, or Quickbooks).

At all stages, specialists stay in touch to promptly resolve emerging issues.

A corporate card is not just a "convenience plastic", but a powerful tool for financial management and tax optimization. It was created to solve a specific business problem - effective and controlled management of travel and representative expenses.

A properly implemented corporate card program saves accounting department time, employee nerves, and company money. This is the case when a modern fintech solution brings direct and measurable business results.