Last updated: April 2026
Key takeaways
- A business travel card is a payment card issued to employees for business trip expenses, linked to a company account for centralised billing and streamlined expense tracking.
- Three main types exist: corporate cards for frequent travellers, prepaid cards for budget control, and lodge cards for policy-enforced travel bookings.
- Business travel cards eliminate employee reimbursement burdens by allowing direct company billing, improving satisfaction and reducing financial stress.
- Automated expense tracking and reconciliation save significant time for both employees and finance teams while reducing errors.
- Built-in spending controls and policy enforcement help companies maintain budget compliance and prevent unauthorised expenses.
After challenging years that saw a significant downturn in the travel industry due to the pandemic, business travel has been making a strong comeback. PwC highlights that businesses spend more than £240 billion each year on corporate travel, with approximately 20 per cent on airfare. This trend signals renewed confidence in face-to-face meetings, conferences, and on-site visits. As companies navigate this resurgence in business travel, the need for efficient expense management has never been greater.
You may want to know more about why business travel cards can be a great benefit to your company, what different types are available, and which features you should consider when choosing the best one for your company’s needs. Whether you are a small business with occasional travel obligations or a large corporation with a workforce travelling for business purposes, there is a business travel card out there that is perfect to match your needs.
What are business travel cards?
A business travel card is a payment card issued to employees specifically for covering expenses during business trips, linked to a company account for centralised billing and expense tracking. These cards are designed to facilitate and manage expenses that occur during business-related travel. The cards allow employees to charge travel-related expenses directly to the company. Moreover, many offer features and benefits tailored to corporate travel needs.
Key features of business travel cards:
Expense tracking: Detailed reporting features make it easy to track and categorise expenses.
Spending controls: Companies can set spending limits and restrictions on business travel cards for keeping control over travel expenses.
Rewards and benefits: Many business travel cards offer rewards, such as airline miles, hotel points, or cash back on travel-related purchases via partnerships. These perks can help offset travel costs and provide additional value to cardholders.
Centralised billing: Instead of employees using personal funds and seeking reimbursement, business travel cards centralise billing, making it easier for finance teams to manage and reconcile expenses.
Enhanced security: Business travel cards often come with advanced security features like fraud protection, EMV chip technology, and the ability to quickly freeze or deactivate cards if lost or stolen.
Different types of business travel cards
| Card type | Funding method | Best use case | Spending control level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate cards | Company credit line | Companies with frequent travellers needing comprehensive expense management | Medium – set limits and restrictions |
| Prepaid travel cards | Pre-loaded funds | Budget-conscious trips with fixed spending amounts | High – spending stops when balance depletes |
| Lodge cards | Centralised company account | Travel bookings with preferred suppliers and policy enforcement | High – restricts to approved suppliers and policies |
Corporate cards are issued to employees and are linked to the company. They offer comprehensive expense management tools and are ideal for companies with frequent travellers.
Prepaid travel cards, on the other hand, are loaded with a predetermined amount of money before the trip. Once the balance is depleted, the card cannot be used, making it a great budgeting tool.
A specialised version of corporate cards for travel are lodge cards – they are designed specifically for business travel and offer centralised control, policy enforcement, and seamless integration with expense management systems. You can also keep control by allowing for bookings from preferred service suppliers only.
Why do you need a business card for travel?
Over the last few years, business travel cards have emerged as invaluable tools to streamline the financial aspects of corporate travel. These specialised cards are designed to simplify expense tracking, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance financial controls for both employers and employees. By opting for the right business travel card, companies can optimise their travel budgets, improve employee satisfaction, and empower their finance teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Every business person who travels a lot should be able to focus fully on the preparation, execution and follow-up of the trip and not have to worry about finances. Business travel cards give them this freedom, while also providing more security for the company and saving time for everyone involved.
The advantages of a business travel card summarised:
- Enhanced employee satisfaction: Requiring employees to cover costs upfront and await reimbursement places undue financial stress on them. A business travel card alleviates this burden, ensuring employees can focus on their work without financial worries.
- Significant time savings: A business travel card automates expense tracking and categorisation, simplifying the reporting process and saving valuable time for all involved.
- Improved security: A business travel card provides a unified and secure payment method, reducing the risk of fraud and unauthorised transactions while ensuring consistent tracking and control over expenses.
What to consider when finding a solution for your business
Ask yourself the following questions to find out which solution is best for your business:
How many business trips does our company take? Higher trip volumes benefit most from corporate or lodge cards with automated expense management.
How many people in the company have to make business trips? More travellers may require scalable solutions with easy card issuance and management.
How is expense management organised in the company? Choose cards that integrate with your existing accounting and expense systems.
What rules and workflows exist in the finance teams? Look for cards with built-in policy enforcement and approval workflows.
How much flexibility should be granted to employees? Prepaid cards offer stricter control, while corporate cards provide more flexibility.
How secure does the solution need to be? Prioritise cards with fraud protection, real-time monitoring, and instant freeze capabilities.
How scalable does the solution need to be? Consider solutions that can grow with your business and handle increasing travel volumes.
Streamlining corporate travel with Smart Lodge Cards
Integrating Smart Lodge Cards into your spend management ecosystem moves travel from a manual administrative task to a controlled, automated process.
Centralised Oversight: Finance teams gain real-time visibility into travel expenditures, simplifying reconciliation.
Automated Policy Enforcement: By linking the card directly to travel guidelines—such as class-of-service restrictions for short-haul flights—companies can prevent non-compliant bookings at the source.
Supplier Alignment: Preferred vendor partnerships are reinforced automatically through the booking platform, ensuring negotiated rates are consistently utilised.
Perk’s Smart Lodge Cards offer a comprehensive solution for business travel management, combining convenience, automation, compliance, and real-time insights to help companies optimise their travel expenses and streamline their processes effectively.
1. One card for all your travel bookings:
Consolidating travel expenditures onto a single lodge card removes the need for multiple payment methods. This centralisation simplifies the booking process for flights and hotels while providing finance teams with a unified view of cash flow and budget utilisation.
2. Fully automated travel expense management:
Direct integration with expense management software automates the tracking and categorisation of transactions. By removing the need for manual data entry, the system minimises human error and accelerates the overall reporting workflow.
3. Automated reconciliation:
The system automatically matches transactions with corresponding digital receipts or invoices. This replaces manual verification, ensuring greater accuracy for tax compliance and internal audits while significantly reducing the time spent on month-end closing.
4. Real-time insights:
Immediate access to spending data allows finance teams to monitor travel costs as they occur. These real-time insights enable more proactive budget management and the ability to identify spending trends before they impact the bottom line.
5. Built-in compliance:
Policy enforcement is built directly into the payment infrastructure. Organisations can pre-set spending limits, restrict specific expense categories, or lock in travel guidelines (such as cabin class or preferred vendors) to ensure 100% adherence to corporate rules.
6. Easy administration:
Card management tasks such as card issuance, activation, deactivation, and reporting can be easily handled through the Perk platform. This ease of administration reduces the administrative burden on finance teams and ensures smooth card management processes.
7. Eliminate manual reports:
Automated data capture removes the requirement for employees to compile and submit traditional expense reports. This shifts the focus back to core business objectives while ensuring that all travel data is captured accurately and instantaneously.
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Frequently asked questions
- A business travel card is linked to a company account with centralised billing and expense tracking, while a personal credit card requires employees to pay upfront and seek reimbursement, creating financial burden and administrative complexity.
- Yes, small businesses with even occasional travel can benefit from simplified expense tracking, reduced reimbursement hassles, and better spending visibility that business travel cards provide.
- A lodge card is a virtual payment card stored with approved travel providers for booking travel services, offering centralised control and policy enforcement without employees holding physical cards.
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