Difference between funds, virtual cards, and physical cards
Overview
Physical cards, virtual cards, and funds are different ways to spend the money your company allocates. Physical cards do not have any money by themselves. They spend from the funds issued by the finance team. Virtual cards are intended for online-only spend. Below is a description of their differences. Read more about how to use funds, physical cards, and virtual cards at the following article: How to use Ramp funds, physical cards, and virtual cards.
How they work
Physical cards
Physical cards can be ordered for all members of your company's Ramp account (here's a guide on how to do that). However, each Ramp user account can only have one physical card active at a time, and they cannot be transferred to another user.
It is worth noting that Physical cards do not come with any additional money to spend. They pull from funds issued by the finance team (see the following section on Funds).
When you make a purchase on your physical card, it gets attributed to your funds. Depending on how your company operates, you may have multiple funds or a single instance of funds.
Physical cards can be used for all purchases, including in-store ones, whether or not a vendor accepts Apple/Google Pay. For convenience, you may also add your physical card to your mobile wallet.
Funds
Funds are allocations of money from the finance team. They cover general expenses such as travel, health and wellness stipends, and office supplies. Funds do not have card numbers by default. However, one can be generated if needed. Funds are meant to be spent from your physical card. They can be issued quickly and at any time in unlimited quantities.
Issuing a fund with physical card spending enabled also pre-approves the user for physical card issuance.
Enabling funds for physical card spending
When issuing funds to users, admins must select both virtual and physical card options if they want users to spend those funds with a physical card:
- Selecting only virtual card restricts the funds to online or virtual card transactions only.
- Selecting both virtual and physical card options enables the funds to be used with the user's physical Ramp card.
- Funds not enabled for physical cards will not be accessible via the user's physical Ramp card for in-person purchases.
Virtual cards
Virtual cards can be issued quickly and in unlimited quantities at any time. They can also be easily transferred or terminated if need be. Virtual cards are meant for digital purchases, such as advertising, online purchases, SaaS, etc.
