In the same way the sharpest looking suits are tailored to fit, the sharpest solutions are tailored to each individual’s needs.

The same goes for card payments. There is such a diverse set of use cases for cards – whether they are being given as a gift or used to expense corporate budgets – that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t do.

With this in mind, we have launched the unique concept of card modes, supporting debit mode as well as prepaid mode. This gives you the flexibility to choose the option that is right for your business.

Debit mode: Cash flow that doesn’t ebb

With debit mode, the cards themselves do not have money on them. Instead the funds are held in a communal pot of money. You can then link an unlimited number of cards to this communal account, and any payments made will come out of the account rather than from the card balance.

You will also have the option of setting controls for individual cards. This means if the communal account has £100,000 in it you can set a £100 spending limit on each card, reducing the risk of fraudulent abuse.

Debit mode can dramatically reduce cash flow inefficiencies, as you don’t have to transfer funds to each individual card. Because the funds are kept in a separate account, they aren’t frozen on individual cards either. And as long as there are sufficient funds in the account, the cards can be used whenever they’re needed.

Debit mode: Putting money where it’s needed

Let’s say you ship out your sharpest sales team on an excursion to garner new clients. They’re likely to incur some corporate expenses such as travel, accommodation, and food.

Instead of putting £1,000 a month onto each of their cards, trapping that money there, our debit mode enables you to set a £250 a week spending limit that draws from a communal expenses account. The money in the expenses account is then free to be used elsewhere should it be needed.

The same goes for employee benefits. If you want to give your employees £1,000 a year, debit mode means you don’t have to transfer all the funds to each individual card at once. You just need to ensure there is enough money in the communal account when it’s needed.

It is unlikely all of your employees will splash the £1,000 at once. If you predict they will spend around 10% of their benefits each month, you can budget for this in the collective account.

Prepaid mode: Solving tomorrow’s budget today

On the flip side of the coin is prepaid mode. Prepaid mode is the choice for situations where the funds are set aside to be used only through the cards you assign them to. It means you can simply distribute the funds upfront and not worry about managing a pot of money down the line.

To this point, there’s a guarantee of being able to make a payment with prepaid mode, as the funds are already on the card and the cardholder is the only one with access to the money. This also means the cardholder can easily keep track of what funds are on there.

You wouldn’t, for instance, want an employee to suddenly discover that their corporate expenses card doesn’t have enough funds when they are checking out of a hotel. As long as the budget has been approved, paying for their stay isn’t going to be a problem.

Prepaid mode means you can put the appropriate funds onto the card and forget about it. The result being you don’t have to budget to allow for £347 in hotel expenses in three months’ time, as it’s already paid for.

Prepaid mode: Keeping track of funds made easy

Prepaid mode provides the reassurance that future payments are already taken care of. It also means there’s less admin down the line, as you don’t need to worry about budgeting an expenses account later in the year.

It puts overspending on ice and makes reconciliation easier. If hundreds of people are making multiple payments out of the same pot of money, it can be difficult to keep track of it. Prepaid mode does away with this hassle.

It can also reduce the risk of abuse. Giving someone a prepaid mode card with £100 on it as opposed to giving someone a debit mode card with access to a pot of millions reduces the scope of fraudulent abuse.•

  • That said, we also offer spend controls that mean you can implement spending limits when using debit mode. For example, you can set the parameter that nobody can spend more than £100 a month on each card, giving you total control.

The luxury of choice

We’re not making decisions for our customers here, and we want you to choose what’s best for you.

You can even have both. For example, you might opt for a debit mode card to manage your expense account but choose to give a one-off contractor a prepaid mode card to simplify your freelancer benefits scheme.

Our solution isn’t off the shelf and doesn’t change your model. We give you the flexibility of choice, so you don’t have to compromise on your vision for your business.

Embedding financial services into your product or service has never been simpler.

With Weavr’s revolutionary plug-and-play embedded finance solutions, you can easily, quickly and safely integrate finance features such as cards, accounts and IBANs into your UX and workflows, for a seamless customer experience that directly enhances your offering.