PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Review for 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Best Small Business Credit Cards.
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post with regularly updated card details.
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card is best for business owners who want real-time visibility into their business expenses. Issued by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)-insured Fifth Third Bank, N.A. or The Bancorp Bank, it offers spend management features and three monthly subscriptions, which range from $0 to $200. It is free to use for the first 60 days and has a maximum load limit of $25,000 per card.
When evaluating business prepaid cards, such as the PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card, we first consider the features included in their expense management systems. We then include their fees and rewards as part of the rating.
Grading Criteria | Card Score | Highest Possible Score |
|---|---|---|
Features (Expense Management System) | 60 | 60 |
Fees | 10 | 20 |
Rewards | 0 | 20 |
Total Score | 70 | 100 |
Who the PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Is Best For
- Businesses who have sufficient cash on hand: PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card is not a credit card—it needs to be pre-loaded with funds before it can be used, making it ideal for those that have enough cash on hand as working capital.
- Businesses that don’t need to spend more than $25,000: Since the maximum load limit is only $25,000, the card is best for those with one-time expenses that don’t exceed this amount.
- Businesses that want to customize purchase and spending rules: The card offers full access to the PEX application programming interface (API), letting you create and enforce bulk spending rules, operate across multiple cards, and define spending rules for specific transactions.
If this card is not what your business needs, see our recommended alternatives below.
Pros & Cons of the PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Records transactions automatically in real-time whenever cardholders submit receipts and accounting codes in the mobile app | Does not offer ATM access |
| Redistributes unused funds found on an individual PEX card back automatically to the main PEX account | Charges foreign transaction fees |
| Has a high maximum balance of $25,000 per card | Charges dependant on the number of employee cards |
| Has separate pricing for businesses and nonprofits | Lacks rewards for new and existing users |
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Rewards
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card does not offer rewards for new or existing users.
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Features
All plans come with real-time transaction data, exports to QuickBooks and Xero, automated spending and funding rules, 24-hour customer support, and more. Take note that some features stated below may only be available in certain plans.
- Real-time transaction data: You can view your employees’ transactions in real-time and keep track of your financial transactions whenever you need to.
- Receipt capture and approval: Employees can take photos of receipts and attach them to transactions within the app, allowing admins to check and approve the transactions accordingly.
- Batch export of receipts: This feature allows you to print and export receipts to your accounting system, such as QuickBooks or Xero.
- Funding requests: Employees can request funds for admin approval—once approved, the employee’s card will be funded immediately.
- Transaction notes: This lets cardholders attach and submit notes on purchase details.
- Transaction tags: Available with the Pro plan, this feature allows you to add general ledger (GL) or accounting codes to your purchase details to simplify reconciliation.
- Automated spending rules: You can limit merchant categories and budget or set location and time-based restrictions.
- Automated funding rules: You can also set rules regarding funding and defunding of individual cards.
- PEX velocity per diems: This feature lets you limit spending based on pre-set rules and recoup unspent per diems automatically—this is only available with the Pro plan.
- 24-hour customer support: Admins and cardholders can access the toll-free customer service number at any time.
- PEX marketplace: You can integrate the PEX system with other business tools available in the marketplace.
- PEX online and mobile app: PEX is available on PC (Windows & Mac), iOS, and Android.
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Fees
There are no monthly fees for the first 60 days. After that, you need to choose among the available plans. PEX has separate pricing plans for regular businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Pricing Plans
It’s worth noting that subscription fees are waived when your company spends over $50,000 in a month. Also, virtual vendor cards are available at no additional cost. You may also request custom cards for an additional fee—just contact PEX for a quotation.
Additional Fees on Special Services
- Returned request transfer: $25
- Card expedite (up to 5 business days): $55
- Card rush (up to 4 business days): $70
- ACH transfer from a PEX account to your business checking account: $5
- International service assessment (per transaction): Up to 3% of the transaction value
- Foreign transaction: 0.8% to 3% of the value of each transaction, depending on the country where the transaction occurred.
How To Transfer Funds on the PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card
You can fund your PEX account by transferring directly from your bank, credit union, or another financial institution through:
- Electronic funds transfer (EFT)
- ACH credit
- Outgoing ACH transfer
- Wire transfer from your business checking account
- Debit of the funds from your bank account via the PEX ACH Service
Note that it may take one to two business days for funds to be transferred.
When To Consider PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card Alternatives
You Want to Earn Rewards
While PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card offers robust controls and a streamlined expense management system, it lacks rewards. If you want to maximize your business expenses by earning ongoing rewards on your purchases, consider the Emburse Spend Card.
- Lets you earn unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases, regardless of spending categories
- Has a high default deposit limit of $100,000, and you can also request an increase if you need a higher limit (subject to approval)
- Offers a robust expense management system so you control employee spending and budget
- Has no annual or monthly fees—it’s essentially free to use
Its streamlined system and unlimited cash back are a few of the reasons why Emburse Spend Card is one of our top-recommended business cards with no personal guarantee.
You Want to Build Business Credit
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card is a prepaid card and not a regular credit card—this means your card transactions will not be reported to the credit bureaus. Using the card can’t help you improve your personal credit or build business credit. If you want to build credit for your business so you can access a wider range of financing options in the future, you may find the Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business more valuable.
Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business
BEST FOR:
Those with fair credit
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
30.49% variable
Annual Fee
$0
Credit Needed
Fair
- 1% cash back every time you swipe
- Build your business credit through responsible usage
- Issue employee cards for free
Pros
- Opportunity to build business credit
- Only requires fair credit to qualify
- Doesn’t charge annual and balance transfer fees
Cons
- Charges high ongoing APR
- Has no 0% introductory APR
- No sign-up bonus
- Automatic payments: Setting up AutoPay in the Capital One mobile app will save you from having to worry about signing in to your account every month
- $0 fraud liability: If your card is either lost or stolen, you can get an emergency replacement and cash advance.
- Purchase records: You can download all purchase records quickly and securely in multiple formats, including Quicken®, QuickBooks®, and Excel®.
- Extended warranty: Get free additional warranty and protection on eligible items purchased with your business credit card.
- Free employee cards: You can create multiple employee cards, track employee spending, and customize spending limits while earning all the rewards from their purchases.
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
30.49% variable
Annual Fee
$0
Credit Needed
Fair
- 1% cash back every time you swipe
- Build your business credit through responsible usage
- Issue employee cards for free
Pros
- Opportunity to build business credit
- Only requires fair credit to qualify
- Doesn’t charge annual and balance transfer fees
Cons
- Charges high ongoing APR
- Has no 0% introductory APR
- No sign-up bonus
- Automatic payments: Setting up AutoPay in the Capital One mobile app will save you from having to worry about signing in to your account every month
- $0 fraud liability: If your card is either lost or stolen, you can get an emergency replacement and cash advance.
- Purchase records: You can download all purchase records quickly and securely in multiple formats, including Quicken®, QuickBooks®, and Excel®.
- Extended warranty: Get free additional warranty and protection on eligible items purchased with your business credit card.
- Free employee cards: You can create multiple employee cards, track employee spending, and customize spending limits while earning all the rewards from their purchases.
- Offers up to 5% cash back
- Only requires fair credit
- Comes with no annual fee
- Lets you carry a balance with interest
- Helps you build business credit with responsible use
It is our leading business credit card for fair credit because of its generous rewards and opportunity to build business credit. While it lets you carry a balance to the next billing cycle, it comes with a high APR. As such, it’s best to plan your budget carefully and pay your balance in full each month to avoid the high cost.
You Want to Have ATM Access
One of the disadvantages of the PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card is that it doesn’t allow you to withdraw funds from the ATM. If you need to access your funds via the ATM, you may benefit more from the Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card.
- Lets you withdraw up to $500 per day at an ATM, with the account owner only having access to it
- Charges lower subscription fees compared to PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card’s business pricing
- Enables you to deposit via Bento Transfer, with a maximum of $10,000 per day
- Allows you to make a maximum card purchase of $25,000 per day, although the account owner can lower the limit on individual cards or set category spending restrictions
It is our top business prepaid card because it offers different types of cards, including spend-limit cards, fixed-value cards, and virtual cards.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You can sign-up for a PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card account by completing the online application on PEX’s website. You need to provide your personal and business information, as well as your (or any authorized representative’s) social security number. The application process will take around 5 minutes.
You can use your PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card anywhere Visa is accepted. That said, you have full control over where your employees can use their cards. You can restrict each employee card by merchant category or set a daily spending limit. If no restrictions are set, your employees can use their cards at any merchant that accepts Visa debit cards.
With regular free shipping, your PEX employee cards will arrive within 8 to 10 business days. But if you choose to pay for expedited shipping, you can expect to receive your cards within 1 to 2 business days.
Bottom Line
PEX Visa Business Prepaid Card is a great choice if you want to customize purchase and spend rules and have no need for rewards. It lets business owners plan ahead by setting spending controls on both physical and virtual cards. It is free for 60 days and offers a free plan for those needing up to five cards, but it does charge international transaction fees.
For more options, read our guides to the best business prepaid cards and best small business credit cards.
