Company cards for a ten-person business in Italy

For a 10-person business in Italy, the right choice depends on whether you want spend-control cards or actual credit:

My starting shortlist: compare Qonto and Soldo if your main goal is issuing controlled cards and simplifying expense reports; compare Nexi or your bank’s corporate cards if you specifically need credit rather than debit/pre-funded cards.

Before choosing, ask for the total cost for 10 named cardholders, foreign-currency and ATM fees, spending limits, receipt/accounting integrations, and what happens when an employee leaves. Are you looking for credit cards, or just cards employees can use for company spending?

For ten people in Italy, the realistic options are prepaid business cards or a business account with team cards. Traditional corporate credit cards are harder to get, so I'd start with prepaid.

Main options

• Bank prepaid cards: Intesa Sanpaolo's Carta Prepaid costs 18 euro a year, with a 60,000 euro maximum spending limit and free top-ups. The first reload is free when the card is delivered. You can also choose whether cash withdrawals are allowed. Banca Sella's prepaid card is pricier: 5 euros at activation and 1.25 euros a month, with a 20,000 euro maximum balance and reloads up to 50,000 euros a year.
• Fintech business accounts with team cards: These usually suit a ten-person team best because they handle many cards and set limits per person. Revolut Business's Basic plan costs 10 euros a month, Grow costs 35 and Scale costs 125. The Basic plan includes access for an unlimited number of employees. You can set countries, categories and spending limits for each card. Vivid Business's Free Start plan for companies costs nothing a month, and physical and virtual cards are free.
• Wallester: The Free plan includes 300 virtual cards, with unlimited physical cards at a one-off issuing cost of 5 euros each. For ten people, that's roughly 50 euros in one-off card fees, plus any ongoing charges.
• Corporate credit cards: These typically require a bank relationship and creditworthiness. Those must be issued by an Italian or EU-licensed financial institution. Expect a longer application process.

Italian compliance points

• The cardholder must have a codice fiscale.
• Transactions must be tied to an Italian legal entity for proper accounting and tax compliance.
• Expense reimbursements and card usage must follow strict rules to avoid being classified as taxable income. Write a simple expense policy covering what's allowed, spending limits and receipt requirements.

Suggested approach

1. If you want low monthly costs and many cards, compare a fintech account (Revolut Business, Vivid or Finom) with a Wallester-style prepaid setup.
2. If you prefer a traditional bank, Intesa's prepaid card is the simplest low-cost choice for a fixed budget per employee.
3. Set a limit per card and require receipts in an app or shared folder.

Pricing changes often, so confirm current fees on each provider's site before you apply. Your accountant (commercialista) can confirm how expense cards affect your tax treatment in Italy.

For a ten-person business in Italy, the most effective solution is typically not a traditional bank credit card, but rather a spend management platform that includes corporate cards. These platforms are designed specifically for small teams to control, track, and automate business expenses.

Recommended Approach: Spend Management Platforms

For a team of ten, you likely need a system that allows you to issue cards to employees, set spending limits, and collect digital receipts in real-time. Traditional bank-issued corporate cards often lack these granular controls and reporting features.

Leading providers active in Italy include:

• Soldo: A well-established choice for Italian businesses. They have a dedicated Italian entity (Soldo Italia S.r.l.), making them highly compliant with local regulations. They offer physical and virtual cards, allow for real-time spend control, and integrate well with accounting software to simplify your month-end bookkeeping.
• Pleo: Known for its user-friendly interface, Pleo is popular among European SMEs. It focuses on automating expense reports and receipt collection, allowing your employees to capture receipts via a mobile app at the point of purchase.
• Wallester: Offers a flexible, Visa-backed platform that allows for the instant issuance of virtual and physical cards. It is well-suited for businesses needing direct integration via APIs and solid control over team spending.
• Airwallex: A strong contender if your business handles multiple currencies or conducts international transactions, as it combines multi-currency accounts with corporate card and expense management features.

Why these are better than traditional bank cards:

• Granular Control: You can set unique spending limits for each of your ten employees (e.g., a limit for a marketing budget versus a travel budget).
• Real-time Visibility: Finance teams can see exactly where and when money is spent, rather than waiting for a monthly statement.
• Reduced Admin: Most of these platforms eliminate the need for manual expense reports. Employees upload a photo of their receipt in the app, which is then automatically matched to the transaction.
• Accounting Integration: These tools sync directly with popular accounting software, saving your accountant time on reconciliation.

Important Considerations for Your Business

1. Liability: Always confirm whether the corporate entity is responsible for the credit risk (which is standard for these platforms) rather than the individual employee.
2. Italian Compliance: Ensure the provider supports local requirements, such as the ability to handle F24 tax payments if you intend to use the platform as your primary business account.
3. Local Entity/IBAN: While many fintechs operate across Europe, some providers offer local Italian IBANs, which can make receiving payments and handling local taxes (like F24 forms) much smoother.
4. Integration: Before signing up, check if the platform integrates with the specific accounting software you already use (e.g., Xero, QuickBooks, or Italian-specific software).

Next Steps

1. Assess your needs: Do you need multi-currency capabilities, or is your spending primarily in Euros within Italy?
2. Compare Plans: Most of these platforms offer tiered pricing based on the number of cards and features. For a ten-person team, evaluate whether the "Team" or "Business" plans offer the best value.
3. Check Documentation: Ensure you have your Italian business registration documents (Visura Camerale), VAT number (Partita IVA), and IDs for directors ready, as these will be required for the KYC (Know Your Customer) process.

If you mean company payment cards for employees’ work expenses, a ten-person business in Italy could start by comparing:

• Soldo — A strong fit if you want cards plus expense controls. It offers physical and virtual cards, spending limits, and cards for employees or teams; its Italy services are provided by Soldo Italia S.r.l. The provider says its cards have no domestic transaction fees and a 1.5% foreign-exchange fee. Check current plan pricing and whether the card setup suits your accounting workflow. ¹⁵
• Telepass Business Card — Worth considering if employee travel and transport spending are central. It’s a prepaid corporate Mastercard with transaction monitoring and reporting, advertised from €6.50/month; verify what that price includes for ten users. ⁸
• A bank-issued corporate card — For example, Deutsche Bank advertises a corporate Visa with a monthly credit limit agreed with the company, starting from €1,600. Ask the bank about issuing cards for ten employees, annual fees, and liability terms. ¹⁰

Practical next step: request quotes for ten cards and compare total annual cost, per-card fees, prepaid versus credit funding, foreign-currency charges, spending controls, receipt capture, and integration with your accountant’s software. If you meant printed or digital contact-sharing business cards, rather than payment cards, tell me and I’ll narrow it down.