Business travel creates a distinct set of payment needs: controlled expenses, predictable exchange costs, corporate reconciliation, and occasional access to premium travel services. The market for travel-friendly plastic and virtual cards expanded sharply after 2018. The choices now range from multi-currency fintech cards to mainstream corporate credit and charge products. This article presents a data-driven evaluation of options relevant to European business travellers and travel managers, with practical guidance for a travel policy that limits exchange-cost leakage and simplifies expense reporting.
What business travellers need from a card
A useful card for frequent European travel typically delivers a combination of the following attributes:
- Low or no foreign transaction fees on card spending.
- Transparent, near–mid-market exchange rates or a clearly disclosed conversion fee.
- Multi-currency capability to hold and spend balances in euros, pounds and other local currencies.
- Corporate controls, virtual cards and per-card spend limits for employee use.
- Reasonable ATM withdrawal conditions for incidental cash needs.
- Integration with expense-management workflows and receipt capture.
These are the criteria that shape the selection in the sections that follow.
Market-level context and price benchmarks
Retail banks historically added a margin to the exchange rate and often charged a foreign transaction fee of 2–3% on top of that. Industry coverage notes that travellers can face fees of around 3% when using non-specialist cards abroad, making travel-specific cards materially cheaper for repeated international spending. (MoneyWeek)
Fintech providers compete on transparency. Wise advertises conversions at the mid-market rate with low conversion fees from about 0.43% on many corridors, enabling spending that closely matches published market rates. (Wise)
Consumer guidance emphasises a simple rule that remains relevant for business travel procurement: “Never just blindly spend abroad with ANY card,” a plain reminder that comparing total cost — exchange margin, conversion fees and ATM charges — is necessary before selecting an option for company use. (MoneySavingExpert.com)
Multi-currency debit and prepaid cards (best where control and transparency matter)
Wise Multi-Currency Card
Wise is positioned for low exchange-cost spending and multi-currency balances. The product uses the mid-market rate and applies modest, published conversion fees — for many currency pairs these begin from the 0.4–0.6% range according to the provider — which keeps effective cost substantially below typical bank mark-ups. Wise supports holding dozens of currencies and is widely accepted in Europe, making it attractive as the central travel wallet for employees who need predictable costs. (Wise)
Revolut Business (multi-currency corporate cards)
Revolut provides corporate travel cards that permit employees to spend in 130+ currencies and to draw from designated currency balances. The product is strong on spend controls and virtual cards for one-time purchases. Business plans carry allowances and out-of-hours or over-limit conversion fees that travel managers must account for in policy design. The vendor discloses per-feature limits such as ATM allowances and potential weekend conversion fees in its published fee schedule. (Revolut)
Starling Business and personal debit cards used for travel
Starling Bank’s consumer and business debit propositions emphasise fee-free spending abroad and exchange at Mastercard’s published rate, with no additional markup from the bank. For teams that prefer an uncomplicated corporate current account with fee-free overseas card use, Starling is frequently cited in recent press coverage as a pragmatic option. (Starling Bank) (Wise)
Prepaid travel card options and when they fit
Prepaid travel cards allow firms to preload currencies, locking rates at the time of loading. These are useful for per-trip allowances and small teams travelling to a known set of countries. Providers in the market include Travelex and the Post Office product range, with different reload and ATM fee profiles. Prepaid cards can limit exchange-rate exposure but sometimes introduce reload or inactivity fees; expense teams should model total cost for typical use cases. (Engine) (Curve)
Corporate credit/charge cards for business travel perks
Corporate cards issued by established payment networks remain relevant when a travel programme values additional protections and travel perks such as lounge access, travel insurance and supplier relationships.
- American Express provides a range of business cards in the UK and Europe that bundle rewards points and travel benefits, including access to certain lounge networks and negotiated business services. Amex corporate and business-grade products are designed to integrate with company billing and supplier programmes. Travel teams commonly select premium corporate cards to consolidate travel spend when rewards and lounge access are an explicit policy objective. (American Express)
- Specialist corporate card guides list contemporary contenders for international travel, mapping benefits such as free foreign transaction treatment, travel insurance and lounge access, with caveats about annual fees and acceptance differences across countries. Firms should weigh reward value against the marginal cost and acceptance footprint in destination markets. (Kiplinger) (Expensify – Expense Management)
Aggregator cards and layered strategies
Curve and card-aggregation services run a central card over underlying accounts. Curve and similar overlays can simplify reconciliation and allow teams to choose the most favourable underlying card on a per-transaction basis. These services can reduce headcount in expense reconciliation but introduce an additional contractual layer to manage. Curve’s published guidance frames the aggregator role as a convenience that can reduce friction in travel spend flows. (Curve)
Practical policy templates and a short comparison
A simple travel-card policy for small or medium enterprises often uses two tiers:
- Primary travel card (corporate credit/charge) for airfare and official supplier bookings; integrated with travel-booking platform and with purchase protections. Amex corporate variants or equivalent bank-issued business cards typically serve here. (American Express)
- Secondary payment (multi-currency debit/prepaid) for local ground transport, meals and incidental purchases. Wise or Revolut business cards are typical choices because of their exchange transparency and per-employee virtual cards. (Wise) (Revolut)
Below is a succinct travel card comparison Europe snapshot relevant to business-use cases:
- Wise Multi-Currency Card — low conversion margin (˜0.43–0.6% on many corridors), mid-market rates, multi-currency balances. (Wise)
- Revolut Business — multi-currency spending, strong corporate control features, plan-dependent allowances and weekend/out-of-hours fees reported. (Revolut) (Wise)
- Starling Bank — fee-free card spending abroad for UK-issued accounts; predictable Mastercard rate. (Starling Bank)
- American Express (Business/Corporate) — corporate billing, rewards and airport lounge benefits; higher cost for premium tiers. (American Express)
- Prepaid travel cards (Travelex, Post Office) — rate lock on load, simpler per-trip allowances, potential reload and inactivity fees. (Engine) (Curve)
Evidence and expert guidance
Consumer financial advisers working publicly on travel money consistently urge a simple rule: avoid paying extra to pay. Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert summarised this plainly for retail travellers as “Don’t pay to pay abroad.” Corporate buyers should apply the same logic to scaled spend. (MoneySavingExpert.com)
Expense teams that run a travel programme should run representative-case simulations. A two-week European trip with daily small purchases will magnify a 2–3% foreign-transaction margin into a measurable company cost. Research that compares total after-fee receipts per transaction is the right metric to apply when selecting the primary travel card. (MoneyWeek) (MoneySavingExpert.com)
Implementation checklist for travel managers
- Map common spend categories and volumes per traveller.
- Simulate total cost under candidate cards, including weekend or out-of-hours FX premiums.
- Use virtual cards for supplier control and single-use merchant authorisations.
- Insist on published fee schedules and sample transactions from the issuer before adopting at scale.
- Reconcile acceptance and refund handling in core destinations.
Final Considerations
For business travellers in Europe the optimal setup is rarely a single card. A layered approach that uses a corporate credit or charge card for major supplier bookings and a transparent multi-currency card for local spending typically minimizes total cost and simplifies reconciliation. Firms should prioritise published exchange transparency, firm fee schedules, and technical integrations (virtual cards, APIs, receipt capture) when choosing a programme. Market offerings change as incumbents and fintechs adjust pricing and limits; a biennial review of the travel payment stack ensures the policy continues to deliver value. The market terms referenced in this article are taken from provider disclosures and recent market guides; for operational implementation the issuer’s current terms and the company’s typical spend profile must be tested before roll-out. (Wise) (Revolut) (American Express)
Selected sources and reading
- Wise: pricing and card details. (Wise)
- Revolut: business cards and corporate travel cards. (Revolut)
- Starling: travel page and business account. (Starling Bank)
- MoneySavingExpert: practical consumer guidance, quote from Martin Lewis. (MoneySavingExpert.com)
- Industry roundups and business-card guides (Kiplinger, Expensify, MoneyWeek). (Kiplinger) (Expensify) (MoneyWeek)