We analysed 9 expense card platforms available to UK businesses — comparing real pricing, card limits, currencies, accounting integrations, and availability. Whether you're a 3-person startup or a 200-person company, this guide helps you pick the right card without overpaying. All data verified May 2026.
Best at £0/mo
Wallester Business is the only platform offering a genuinely free plan with 300 virtual cards, unlimited physical cards, unlimited users, and multi-currency IBANs in 10 currencies including GBP — all at £0 per month. EU-regulated, Visa Principal Member since 2018, with Xero, QuickBooks, and NetSuite integrations.
Best UX + receipts
The UK's most popular expense platform for teams that value polished UX and automated receipt capture. Starter plan from ~£35/month with 3 users included. Per-user pricing adds up fast for growing teams.
Best FX rates
Full banking platform with 30+ currencies at interbank rates — strongest multi-currency offering on this list. Basic plan from £10/month (no longer free). Best for international payments; expense management is basic vs dedicated tools.
UK-focused prepaid
UK-headquartered prepaid Mastercard platform focused on spending controls and budget management. No free plan — 30-day trial only. Strong for UK-based teams needing tight expense control with Xero and QuickBooks integration.
Complex approvals
AI-powered spend management for mid-size companies (50–1000 employees) with complex approval workflows. Custom pricing only. Overkill for small businesses, but powerful for companies needing multi-level approvals and granular spending policies.
Procurement suite
All-in-one platform combining corporate cards, AP automation, travel booking, and procurement. Deep ERP integrations with SAP, Oracle, and NetSuite. Custom pricing. Best for mid-size UK companies that want one tool for everything.
Best cashback
Global corporate card platform with no monthly fees, unlimited virtual cards, 1% uncapped cashback, and cross-border payments to 150+ countries. Strongest choice for UK businesses with international operations.
DACH-focused
German-founded corporate card platform built for DACH-region finance teams. Native DATEV and Lexware integrations. Custom pricing. Best for UK subsidiaries of German businesses using DATEV; limited value for UK-native SMBs.
Best for ecommerce
Swedish FSA-licensed Mastercard platform purpose-built for ecommerce and digital advertising businesses. Free tier caps at 2 users; Plus tier (€79/mo) adds 10 users and 0.5% cashback. Integrates with Google Ads, Meta, TikTok Ads. Priced in EUR.
We opened accounts on all 9 cards using a real Estonian OÜ and a UK Ltd. We ran 200+ transactions across 14 currencies, tested receipt-capture flows, called support 3× per provider, and reconciled monthly statements against accounting exports. Final ranking weighs four equal factors:
| Feature | Wallester |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | ✓ £0 | From £35/mo | From £10/mo | Custom | Custom | Custom | £0 | Custom | Free / €79 Plus |
| Virtual cards | ✓ 300 | Plan-based | Up to 200/user | Up to 20 | Included | Unlimited | Unlimited | Plan-based | 2 (Free) / 10 (Plus) |
| Physical cards | Unlimited (£5 delivery) | Included | 1 free/employee | Included | Included | Included | 1 free/user | Visa corp. included | Mastercard (60-day) |
| Currencies | ✓ 10 (own IBANs) | Multi on paid | 30+ interbank | GBP/USD/EUR | EUR/GBP/USD | 32 currencies | 40+ currencies | EUR-centric | EUR, GBP, USD, SEK |
| Integrations | ✓ Xero, QB, NetSuite, API | Xero, QB, Sage | Xero, QB | Xero, QB, NetSuite | Xero, Datev, NetSuite | Xero, QB, SAP | QB, Xero, API | DATEV, Xero | Xero, Fortnox, ecommerce |
| Availability | UK + 40+ countries | 14 EU + UK | 150+ countries | UK + EU | UK, FR, DE, ES, IE | 32 countries | 30+ countries | DACH + limited UK | UK + EU |
| Best for | UK SMBs at £0 | UX + receipts | Multi-currency FX | UK expense control | Complex approvals | All-in-one AP | Global cross-border | DACH accounting | Ecommerce / DTC |
| Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★½☆ | ★★★½☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★½☆ |
WallesterTop pickPleoRevolutSoldoSpendeskPayhawkWallester Business is the only platform offering a completely free plan with 300 virtual cards, unlimited physical cards, and unlimited users. Jeeves also has no monthly fee but operates on a prepaid model. Pleo offers a limited Starter plan but charges per-user fees as you grow. Revolut Business discontinued its free plan — the Basic plan now starts at £10/month.
The most common hidden fees are: FX markups (1–3% on top of network rates), ATM withdrawal fees, per-user monthly charges that escalate with team size, card replacement fees, account closure fees, and minimum balance requirements. Always request the full fee schedule before signing up.
Both are widely accepted across the UK and Europe. Visa has a slight edge in global merchant coverage (80M+ vs 70M+ acceptance points), which matters for international travel and online purchases outside the UK. Within the UK, either works fine. Wallester, Revolut, Spendesk, and Payhawk use Visa. Pleo and Soldo use Mastercard.
More than you think. Best practice: one card per SaaS subscription, per employee, and per recurring vendor. A 10-person company with 20 subscriptions could use 50+ cards. This makes it easy to cancel services, track spend by category, and limit fraud. Wallester's 300 free cards cover most UK SMBs comfortably.
For Xero (the most popular UK accounting software): Wallester, Pleo, Revolut, and Soldo all offer direct integrations. For QuickBooks: same four plus Payhawk. For Sage: Pleo has the strongest integration. For NetSuite or SAP (larger companies): Payhawk or Spendesk. Wallester also offers a REST API for custom integrations.
The only platform offering £0/month with 300 virtual cards, unlimited physical cards, unlimited users, and multi-currency IBANs in 10 currencies including GBP. Available across the UK, EEA, and 40+ countries worldwide.
Typically replies instantly
We use essential cookies only.