Business prepaid credit cards help manage employee expenses and have fewer qualifications than normal business credit cards. We looked at a range of business prepaid cards and found the best 3 to be Netspend, PEX, and Bento for Business. Read the buyer’s guide for a side-by-side comparison of the 3 as well as our top recommendation.
Best Free Business Prepaid Card: Bento
Bento is the best free prepaid card option for small business owners since they offer the first 2 cards free. We also found that Bento can be the most affordable option for businesses that will have more than 20 cardholders. They don’t require a personal credit check and approval can take just a few minutes.
Best Business Prepaid Card for Small Businesses: Netspend
Netspend is our choice as the best business prepaid card of 2017. The business prepaid card lets you load up to $25k to your account per day and lets employees spend up to $5k daily per card. You can load your funds using direct deposit, check, ACH/wire transfer, or via a physical reload station.
Business Prepaid Cards Table: Netspend vs. PEX vs. Bento
| Monthly Fee Learn More | $1.95 for cards 2 - 10 | (waived if you spend $50k per month) | (first 2 cards free - waived if you spend $20k+ per month) |
| Maximum Number of Cards Learn More | |||
| Minimum Balance Learn More | |||
| Maximum Balance Learn More | |||
| Daily Load Limits Learn More | (unlimited amount of transactions) | (unlimited amount of transactions) | |
| Daily Spend Limits Learn More | |||
| How to Load Funds Learn More | ACH/wire transfer, reload station | ||
| Cash Withdrawals Learn More | |||
| Time to Approval Learn More | (card received in 7 - 10 business days) | (card received in 7 - 10 business days) | (card received in 7 - 10 business days) |
| Liability | (no credit check) | (no credit check) | (no credit check) |
| Provider | |||
| Learn More |
NetspendBest Business Prepaid Card for Small Businesses: Netspend
We recommend Netspend as our best business prepaid card because it’s the least expensive and the most flexible when loading funds. It also offers a cash and check-free way to distribute tips to employees and offer bonuses and commissions. The account even lets you accept customer credit/debit cards, one of the few to offer that.
Netspend charges $9.95 a month for the first card and $1.95 per month for up to 9 employee cards. This means that the most you’ll pay is $27.50 for a 10-card account, or $2.75 per card. However, the PEX card charges $7.50 per card and Bento for Business offers the first 2 cards free, making them better options for 1- and 2-card accounts.
The Netspend Business prepaid card is the only card on our list that offers 4 ways to load funds. Specifically, funds can be loaded by electronically depositing a check, initiating an ACH or wire transfer, at a participating reload station, or even via direct deposit. By comparison, the other two cards can only be loaded via an ACH or wire transfer.
However, Netspend has a $15k – $25k daily load limit. They also have a total account limit of $25k and a $5k daily limit per card. Alternatively, the PEX card offers unlimited daily loads and doesn’t have any spending limits. Bento for Business offers a higher total account limit and the same daily spend limit at $25k per card.
Like all the cards on our list, since the Netspend card is a business prepaid card, there is no personal credit check. This means that business owners don’t have to worry about personal liability. The approval time is instant and you can receive your first card in 7 – 10 business days.
Best Business Prepaid Card for Scalability: PEX
The PEX business prepaid card is the best card for scalability. This is because PEX offers one of the highest number of employee cards per account at 100. Further, PEX offers an unlimited amount of daily loads and transactions. However, there’s a monthly fee of $7.50 per card, waived if your account spends $50k/month.
The PEX business prepaid card also charges a one-time setup fee of $49. This makes the card costly for small businesses with just a few card users. However, if you expect to have more than 10 cards this is a better option than Netspend. Also, if you expect to spend $50k per month it’s better than Bento for Business.
PEX also offers the most flexible spending and loading limits when compared to the other two on our list. The PEX business prepaid card allows $25k per load and an unlimited number of daily load transactions. The card also offers unlimited daily card spending. This is in contrast to both the Netspend and Bento cards that limit daily transactions.
Like Netspend, the PEX business prepaid card doesn’t require a personal credit check or a personal guarantee from the business owner. It takes between 1 – 3 business days for approval and 7 – 10 business days to receive your first business prepaid card.
Best Free Business Prepaid Card: Bento
The Bento business prepaid card is the best free option for small business owners. This is because Bento is one of the only business prepaid card providers that offer the first 2 cards free. Bento for Business is also one of the only providers that charges on a flat fee per account rather than per card.
Specifically, the Bento business prepaid card account offers the following pricing structure:
- 2 Cards: Free
- 3 – 10 Cards: $29/month
- 11 – 20 Cards: $69/month
- 20+ Cards: $149/month
- These fees are waived if you spend $20k+ per month
This is in contrast to Netspend and PEX, both of which charge a monthly fee for the first card as well as a fee for additional employee cards. This makes Bento for Business the only free option on our list. It can also be the most inexpensive card for companies with more than 20 cardholders, depending on the number of cards.
However, even though the Bento for Business doesn’t limit the number of cards, it does limit daily load transactions and daily card transactions. For example, you can only load $25k per day to your account and cardholders can only spend $25k per day. This makes it less scalable than the PEX business prepaid card.
The Bento business prepaid card doesn’t require a personal credit check and doesn’t hold the business owner personally liable for transactions. The time to approval can be instantaneous and you can receive your first card (for free) in as little as 7 – 10 business days.
In-Depth Review: Netspend vs. PEX vs. Bento
Monthly Fee
Almost all business prepaid cards have a monthly card fee. Some will also have a monthly administrative fee and/or a one-time setup fee. The typical cost of a business prepaid card is around $7.50 per month. There are also other fees, which can include cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, PIN purchase, and foreign transaction fees.
Maximum Number of Cards
The total number of allowable business prepaid cards per account will often dictate the provider for your business. This is because the number of cards ranges widely depending on the specific type of account. Some providers limit the number of cards to 10 while others offer unlimited cards. The total number of cards often dictate the monthly fees.
Minimum Balance
It’s not uncommon to find business prepaid cards with minimum balance requirements. When this is the case there will often be a monthly fee for accounts that dip below this minimum threshold. However, it’s fairly easy to find business prepaid cards with no minimum balance or balance fees. All 3 cards in this buyer’s guide don’t have minimum balance requirements.
Maximum Balance
It’s not uncommon to see business prepaid cards with maximum limits too. This sets a cap on the total amount you can load onto your account, limiting the amount you can spend across all your cards. Typical maximum balances are around $25k but you can find cards with unlimited balances. 2 of the 3 cards on this list don’t have a max balance.
Daily Load Limits
Almost all business prepaid cards have daily load limits. This puts a cap on the amount of cash that you can load onto your account per day, limiting the potential amount you can spend across all of your cards. It’s common to see business prepaid cards with daily load limits between $15k – $25k or more.
Daily Spend Limits
Business prepaid cards typically cap daily transactions at a flat dollar amount per card, usually between $5k per day. This is a different limit from any maximum balance limits. The daily spend limit is on a per card basis while the maximum balance limit is on a per account basis. Some providers don’t have daily spend limits.
How to Load Funds
Business prepaid cards offer a variety of ways to load funds onto your account. The most common ways to load funds is to either make an ACH or wire transfer or go to a participating load station like a convenience store or gas station. However, there are sometimes more convenient ways available, such as via direct deposit or check.
Cash Withdrawals
While business prepaid cards are backed by cash, not all business prepaid card providers let you withdraw cash at an ATM. This makes prepaid cards that 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 business prepaid cards are backed by cash and doesn’t require a personal credit check. And while approval isn’t guaranteed, the approval process is fairly quick. You can get approved for an account instantly. However, to activate the account, you’ll usually first need to add funds to the account, which can take 2 – 3 days. Cards are typically received within 7 – 10 business days.
Additional Features/Benefits
In addition to the features and benefits we’ve already listed, business prepaid cards can offer unique and individual benefits. Some of these extra benefits include the ability to accept customer credit/debit cards, distribute tips and bonuses to employees, as well as the ability to use the card for other needs like gas and fuel.
Bottom Line
Business prepaid cards are great for companies that want to better manage their expenses. They’re also good for business owners who can’t qualify for a normal business credit card. The best business prepaid cards include offers from Netspend, PEX, and Bento for Business.
We recommend Netspend as the best business prepaid card for small businesses. You can get up to 10 cards per account and limit daily transactions on a per card basis. There is a maximum account balance of $25k.
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