Corporate cards · team spend
Many people spending, one statement to explain
Corporate cards replace advances and reimbursement claims with cards in employees' hands. The spending gets easier; the explaining moves to month-end. A good programme is mostly a good policy and a steady receipts routine.
- PriyaSales · travel and client meals₹38,42014 transactions14/14 receipts
- ArjunOperations · site supplies₹21,7609 transactions8/9 receipts · 1 missing
- MeeraMarketing · events and ads₹64,3006 transactions6/6 receipts
- KabirEngineering · software₹12,9903 transactions3/3 receipts
What makes a card “corporate”
RBI's directions on credit and debit cards describe business credit cards as cards issued to business entities or individuals for business expenses, not personal use. They can take several forms: charge cards, corporate credit cards, or cards linked to a business overdraft or cash credit facility.
A corporate credit card, specifically, is issued to named employees of a company. The defining question is liability, and RBI's definition leaves it to the product design: the company, the employee, or both jointly. That single choice shapes everything else in the programme.
Three ways liability can work
Company liability
The company pays the issuer for everything on the cards. Simplest for employees; the company carries the risk of misuse and relies on its policy and controls.
Individual liability
The employee pays the issuer and claims business spend back through expenses. The company carries less credit risk, but employees carry the float.
Joint liability
Split between the two, as the agreement sets out. Common where the company pays for business spend and the employee for anything personal.
Which models an issuer offers is its choice; the agreement is what decides.
Cards, prepaid cards or reimbursement?
| Corporate credit card | Prepaid card | Reimbursement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whose money at the moment of spend | The issuer's credit | Money you loaded in advance | The employee's own |
| Spending limit | A credit limit set by the issuer, with your own limits below it | What's loaded | Whatever the employee can afford |
| When the company pays | On the statement due date | When loading | After the claim is approved |
| Employee experience | No personal money used | No personal money used | Out of pocket until repaid |
| Suits | Regular, varied business spend | Fixed budgets and one-off spend | Occasional small expenses |
More on prepaid programmes: prepaid cards guide.
Writing a card policy
The policy is what makes a card a business tool rather than a line of credit in someone's pocket. Keep it short enough that cardholders read it, and specific enough that a manager can say yes or no to a transaction without asking.
Every cardholder should sign it before receiving a card, and it should say what happens if it's broken.
- 1Who gets a cardBy role, not by seniority alone. Fewer cards are easier to manage.
- 2What it's forAllowed categories: travel, client meals, software, supplies. And what it's not for.
- 3How muchMonthly limits per person, below the issuer's limit, and per-transaction caps.
- 4ReceiptsEvery transaction needs one, uploaded within a set number of days.
- 5ApprovalsWho reviews each person's spend, and by when.
- 6ConsequencesWhat happens with missing receipts or personal spend.
The month, from swipe to settled
A card programme runs on the billing cycle. Spending happens all month; the statement closes on a set date; payment is due some days later. The weeks in between are when receipts are chased and costs are coded, so the finance team isn't doing it all in the last two days.
During the month
Cardholders spend and upload receipts as they go.
Statement closes
Every transaction for the cycle is fixed on the statement.
Review
Managers approve spend; finance codes it to cost centres and chases gaps.
Pay
The bill is paid by the due date: in full for a charge card, or at least the amount you choose on a revolving card.
On a revolving card, paying only the minimum leaves the rest accruing interest; RBI requires issuers to print a warning about exactly that on every statement. A business card should be paid in full as a matter of policy.
Controls, lost cards and leavers
RBI's card directions give cardholders several protections that also matter to the company. Issuers must offer ways to disable or block a card, provide round-the-clock channels to report unauthorised transactions and block the card, and block a lost card immediately once told.
Closing is covered too: a closure request has to be honoured within seven working days, as long as all dues are paid. For a company, that means offboarding should include the card on day one, not whenever someone remembers.
Card controls
Online, international, contactless and cash use switched on only where the policy needs them.
Lost or stolen
Employee blocks it at once through the issuer's channel; finance is told the same day.
Suspicious transaction
Reported to the issuer immediately; the faster it's reported, the better.
Employee leaves
Card blocked on the last day; closure requested with dues cleared.
Accounting for card spend
For accounting, a card statement is a list of expenses with one payment against it. Each line needs a receipt, a category and a cost centre; the payment to the issuer clears the liability. Doing this as spend happens, rather than from the statement at month-end, is what keeps it manageable.
Tax is where receipts matter most. Whether tax credits are available on a purchase depends on the invoice the supplier issues and on tax rules, so agree with your tax adviser what cardholders need to ask for, and put it in the policy.
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Receipt or invoice | Proof of the expense, and the basis for any tax claim |
| Category | Travel, meals, software and so on, for reporting |
| Cost centre or project | So the right budget carries the cost |
| Business purpose | A few words; auditors ask |
| Approver | Who reviewed it, and when |
Common problems, and how to avoid them
Receipts collected at month-end. Half are lost by then. Ask for them within days of the spend.
Cards for everyone. Each card is a risk and a monthly review. Issue by need.
Limits set once and forgotten. Review limits when roles change, and quarterly for everyone.
Personal spend on business cards. Say in the policy how it's repaid, and make it rare by making it awkward.
Former employees' cards still active. Card blocking belongs on the offboarding checklist, next to laptop return.
Where Peneu fits
Credit cards are issued by banks and by NBFCs RBI has permitted to issue them. Peneu isn't presented here as a card-issuer, and no limit, fee or issuing partner is named. Whether Peneu offers a corporate card programme through an issuer, and which controls and reports come with it, is confirmed during onboarding.
Corporate card questions
What is a corporate credit card?
RBI defines it as a credit card issued to specific employees of a corporate employer, where the liability can rest with the company, the employee, or both jointly, depending on how the product is designed. It's one kind of business credit card, meant for business expenses rather than personal use.
Who pays the bill: the company or the employee?
It depends on the card's design, which the agreement sets out. With company liability, the company pays the issuer. With individual liability, the employee pays and claims the expense back. Joint liability splits it. Know which yours is before issuing a single card.
What's a charge card?
A credit card where the full billed amount must be paid on the due date after each billing cycle; nothing rolls over to the next cycle. Business credit cards may be issued as charge cards, corporate cards, or linked to a business overdraft or cash credit facility.
Who can issue credit cards in India?
Banks, and NBFCs that RBI has permitted to issue credit cards. A company running a card programme does so through one of these issuers.
What happens when an employee's card is lost?
RBI requires card-issuers to offer round-the-clock ways to report unauthorised transactions and block a card, and to block a lost card immediately once told. Make sure employees know how to reach the issuer quickly.
How quickly can a card be closed when someone leaves?
RBI's card directions require a closure request to be honoured within seven working days, provided all dues are paid. Block the card on the employee's last day and start closure at once.
Can we claim GST on card spending?
That depends on the invoices and on tax rules, not on the card. Ask your tax adviser what your team needs to collect for input tax credit to be available.
Should every employee who travels get a card?
Not necessarily. Cards suit people who spend regularly; for occasional travellers, a prepaid card loaded for the trip or a simple reimbursement may be easier to control. Issue by need, and review who holds cards every quarter.
Does Peneu issue corporate cards?
Credit cards are issued by banks and permitted NBFCs. Peneu isn't presented here as a card-issuer. Whether Peneu offers a card programme through an issuer, and with which controls, is confirmed during onboarding.
Official sources
- RBI — Master Direction: Credit Card and Debit Card – Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2022 (updated 7 Mar 2024)Definitions of business, corporate and charge cards; card-issuers; blocking and reporting; closure within seven working days; minimum-due warning.
Last reviewed . Examples, amounts and screens marked illustrative are not Peneu figures.