Business prepaid credit cards help handle employee expenses and also have fewer qualifications than normal business credit cards. We looked at a range of business prepaid cards and found the top 3 to become Netspend, PEX, and Bento for Business. Read the buyer’s guide for a side-by-side comparison of the 3 and our top recommendation.
Best Free Business Prepaid Card: Bento
Bento is the best free prepaid card alternative for small business owners because they offer you the initial 2 cards free. We also discovered that Bento can be the most inexpensive alternative for companies that will have more than 20 cardholders. They do not demand a personal credit rating and acceptance can take only a couple of minutes.
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Best Business Prepaid Card for Small Firms: Netspend
Netspend is our choice as the ideal company prepaid card of 2017. The business prepaid card lets you load up to $25k to your accounts per day and lets employees spend around $5k daily per card. You can load your funds utilizing direct deposit, check, ACH/wire move, or via a physical reload station.
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Business Prepaid Cards Table: Netspend vs. PEX vs. Bento
Netspend |
PEX |
Bento for Business |
|
---|---|---|---|
Monthly Fee
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$9.95 for first card, $1.95 for cards two – 10 |
$7.50 per card (waived if you spend $50k per month) |
$0.00 – $149 per account (initial two cards free – payable if you pay $20k+ per month) |
Maximum Number of Cards
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10 cards | 100+ cards | 20+ cards |
Minimum Balance
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None | None | None |
Maximum Balance
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$25k per account | Endless | Endless |
Daily Load Limits
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$15k – $25k per accounts | $25k per trade (infinite amount of transactions) |
$25k per account (infinite amount of trades ) |
Daily Spend Limits
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$5k per cent | No limit | $25k per card |
How to Collecting Money
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Immediate deposit, assess, ACH/wire transfer, reload station |
ACH or wire transfer from existing bank account | ACH or wire transfer from existing bank accounts |
Money Withdrawals
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Yes | No | Yes |
Time to Approval
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Instant (card received in 7 – 10 business days) |
1 – 3 business days (card obtained in 7 – 10 business days) |
Immediate (card obtained in 7 – 10 business days) |
Obligation | No personal liability (no credit rating ) |
No liability (no credit check) |
No personal liability (no credit rating ) |
Provider | Visa or MasterCard | Visa | MasterCard |
Learn More | Visit Netspend | Visit PEX | Visit Bento for Business |
Best Company Prepaid Card for Smaller Firms: Netspend
We advocate Netspend as our very best business prepaid card since it’s the cheapest and the very flexible when loading funds. It also offers a money and check-free way to distribute tips to employees and give bonuses and commissions. The accounts even lets you accept client credit/debit cards, one of the few to offer you that.
Netspend charges $9.95 a month for the first card and $1.95 per month for up to 9 cards. This means that the most you’ll pay is $27.50 for a 10-card account, or $2.75 per cent. On the other hand, the PEX card costs $7.50 per card and Bento for Business offers the initial 2 cards making them better options for 1- month and 2-card accounts.
The Netspend Business prepaid card is the only card on our list that offers 4 methods to load money. Specifically, funds could be loaded by depositing a test, initiating an ACH or wire transfer, in a participating reload station, or perhaps via direct deposit. By comparison, the other two cards can only be loaded via an ACH or wire transfer.
But, Netspend has a $15k — $25k daily load limitation. They also possess a total account limitation of $25k and a $5k daily limit per cent. Alternatively, the PEX card provides unlimited daily loads and does not have some spending limits. Bento for Business offers a higher total account limit and the exact same daily spend limit at $25k per card.
Like most of the cards on our listing, since the Netspend card is a business prepaid card, there is no private credit check. This means that business owners do not have to worry about personal liability. The acceptance time is instant and you can receive your very first card in 7 — 10 business days.
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Best Business Prepaid Card for Scalability: PEX
The PEX company prepaid card is the best card for scalability. This is only because PEX provides among the highest number of employee cards per account at 100. Further, PEX offers an unlimited number of daily loads and trades. But, there’s a monthly fee of $7.50 per card, payable if a account spends $50k/month.
The PEX company prepaid card also charges a one-time installment fee of $49. This makes the card costly for small companies with just a couple of card consumers. But should you expect to get over 10 cards that this is a better choice than Netspend. Furthermore, if you expect to spend $50k a month it’s better than Bento for Business.
PEX also supplies the most flexible loading and paying limits compared to the other two on our listing. The PEX business prepaid card enables $25k per load along with an unlimited number of everyday loading transactions. The card also offers boundless daily card spending. This is in contrast to both the Netspend and Bento cards that restrict daily trades.
Like Netspend, the PEX business prepaid card doesn’t call for a personal credit rating or a personal guarantee from the company owner. It requires between 1 — 3 business days for approval and 7 — 10 business days to receive your first company prepaid card.
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Best Free Business Prepaid Card: Bento
The Bento business prepaid card is the best free alternative for small business owners. This is because Bento is one of the only company prepaid card providers offering the initial 2 cards free. Bento for Business can also be one of the only providers that fees on a set fee per account instead of per card.
Specifically, the Bento business prepaid card account Provides the following pricing structure:
- Two Cards: Free
- 3 — 10 Cards: $29/month
- 11 — 20 Cards: $69/month
- 20+ Cards: $149/month
- These charges are waived if you invest $20k+ per month
This is compared to Netspend and PEX, each of which charge a monthly charge for your initial card as well as a fee for extra employee cards. This makes Bento for Business the only free alternative on the list. Additionally, it may be the most inexpensive card for companies with more than 20 cardholders, depending on the amount of cards.
However, though the Bento for Business doesn’t limit the amount of cards, it does limit daily load transactions and everyday card transactions. For instance, you may only load $25k per day to your account and cardholders can only spend $25k daily. This makes it less scalable than the PEX company prepaid card.
The Bento company prepaid card doesn’t require a private credit check and does not hold the business owner personally accountable for trades. The opportunity to approval can be instantaneous and you may get your first card (for free) in as little as 7 — 10 business days.
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In-Depth Review: Netspend vs. PEX vs. Bento
Monthly Fee
Virtually all business prepaid cards have a monthly card charge. Some will also have a monthly administrative fee or a one-time installment fee. The normal cost of a business prepaid card is around $7.50 a month. Additionally, there are other fees, which may consist of cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, PIN purchase, and overseas transaction fees.
Maximum Number of Cards
The entire number of allowable business prepaid cards per account will often dictate the provider for your business. This is due to the fact that the number of cards collections widely depending on the particular kind of account. Some suppliers limit the number of cards to 10 while others offer unlimited cards. The entire number of cards often dictate the monthly fees.
Minimum Balance
It’s not unusual to find business prepaid cards with minimum balance requirements. When this is the case there will often be a monthly fee for accounts which dip below this minimal threshold. But, it is rather easy to find business prepaid cards without a minimum balance or equilibrium fees. All 3 cards in this buyer’s guide do not have minimum balance requirements.
Maximum Balance
It’s not uncommon to see company prepaid cards with maximum limitations too. This sets a cap on the total amount you may load on your account, restricting the amount you are able to spend across all of your cards. Normal maximum balances are about $25k but you can find cards with unlimited balances. 2 of the 3 cards on this list do not have a max balance.
Daily Load Limits
Virtually all business prepaid cards have daily load limits. This sets a limit on the amount of cash that you could load on your accounts every day, restricting the possible amount you can spend across all of your cards. It is common to see business prepaid cards with daily load limits between $15k — $25k or longer.
Daily Spend Limits
Company prepaid cards typically cap daily transactions at a level dollar amount per cent, typically between $5k per day. This is not the same limitation from any maximum balance limitations. The daily pay limitation is on a per card basis while the highest balance limit is on a per account basis. Some providers do not have daily spend constraints.
How to Satisfy Money
Business prepaid cards offer you a variety of methods to load funds onto your accounts. The most frequent ways to load funds would be to make an ACH or wire transfer or go to a participating load channel like a convenience store or gas station. But, there are sometimes more suitable ways available, like via direct deposit or check.
Money Withdrawals
While business prepaid cards are backed by cash, not all business prepaid card suppliers let you draw cash at an ATM. This makes prepaid cards which allow for ATM transactions potentially more convenient than other alternatives. However, it’s possible that you might incur an ATM withdrawal fee.
Time to Approval
Since company prepaid cards have been backed by money and doesn’t call for a private credit check. And while approval isn’t guaranteed, the acceptance process is fairly quick. You can get approved for an accounts instantly. However, to activate the account, you will usually first must add funds to the accounts, which may take 2 — 3 days. Cards are typically obtained within 7 — 10 business days.
Added Features/Benefits
In addition to the features and advantages we’ve already listed, business prepaid cards may offer unique and individual advantages. Some of these additional advantages include the ability to accept client credit/debit cards, disperse bonuses and tips to workers, as well as the ability to utilize the card for other needs such as gas and gasoline.
Bottom Line
Company prepaid cards are great for businesses that want to manage their expenses. They’re also great for business owners who can’t be eligible for a normal business charge card. The very best business prepaid cards include offers from Netspend, PEX, and Bento for Business.
We recommend Netspend as the very best business prepaid card for smaller companies. You can get up to ten cards per account and restrict daily trades on a per card basis. There’s a maximum account balance of $25k.
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