Corporate Card

Definition

A corporate card is a payment card issued by a bank or financial institution to a company's employees for making authorised business purchases. Unlike personal credit cards, corporate cards are linked to the company's credit line, and the liability for charges rests with the company (in company-liability programmes) or is split between company and employee (in individual-liability programmes). Corporate cards provide centralised control over employee spending with features like per-transaction limits, merchant category restrictions, and real-time transaction alerts.

In the Indian market, major banks including HDFC, ICICI, Axis Bank, SBI, and Kotak Mahindra offer corporate card programmes tailored to different company sizes. These programmes typically include features relevant to Indian businesses: integration with UPI for contactless payments, GST-compliant transaction data, rupee-denominated and forex-capable cards, and compatibility with Indian accounting and ERP systems. Prepaid corporate cards (loaded with a specific amount) are gaining popularity for companies that want to avoid credit exposure while maintaining card-based expense management.

The primary advantage of corporate cards over the traditional reimbursement model is the availability of transaction-level data in near real-time. Every card swipe generates a data record that can be automatically imported into expense management software, matched against employee-submitted receipts, and posted to accounting systems. This dramatically reduces the manual effort in expense reconciliation and provides finance teams with real-time visibility into company-wide spending patterns.

Key Points

• Company-issued payment card (credit or prepaid) for authorised business expenses: liability typically rests with the company, not the employee
• Major Indian issuers include HDFC, ICICI, Axis Bank, SBI, and Kotak Mahindra with India-specific features and integrations
• Provides real-time spending visibility and centralised control through per-transaction limits, monthly caps, and merchant category restrictions
• Transaction data from card feeds enables automated matching with expense claims, reducing manual reconciliation effort by 60-80%
• Employees must still obtain GST-compliant invoices for each transaction: the card statement alone is not sufficient for ITC claims
• Prepaid corporate cards are gaining popularity in India as they limit exposure to the loaded amount without requiring a credit line
• Requires a clear corporate card policy defining eligible transactions, prohibited uses, receipt submission timelines, and personal use settlement rules