Business-cards: new opportunities

The Business card is issued personally on the individual entrepreneur’s name or on a legal entity representative’s name (CEO, accountant). They are the persons who are entitled to manage the account. If required, several additional cards can be issued on the name of the authorized persons. Usually, these are employees hired by the entrepreneur, his/her family members.

Additional cards offer a convenient option for different types of business. For example, for the wholesale and retail trade, provisioning areas. The entrepreneur does not need to withdraw cash, to give it to an employee for making purchases at wholesale centers or in wholesale networks. The same for transportation or logistics companies, where the drivers have to refuel the vehicles, cover costs related to business trips, sometimes –  buy some goods. A taxi service, where the company’s own cars are used, has similar needs: the cars also have to be refuelled, washed, the parking costs should be covered by the service provider, but not by the driver. Restaurants, cafes, small food-business also has constant needs to purchase products, consumables. And for the companies providing the construction, repair works, premises equipment services it is more profitable to pay for construction and decoration materials, engineering communications etc. using the cards, as it allows to accumulate the discounts and to participate in loyalty programs offered by trade networks.

In general, the Business card is a convenient tool for all types of business, where there is the need to delegate costs to employees. Control and ease of corporate cards administration represents a considerable advantage. It is much more comfortable to keep record of costs and to compile reporting in the online application than to pin the receipts to the stack, isn’t it?

Very often, the users do not wish the employees or the authorized persons holding additional cards to see the balance on the master account, to have access to it. Raiffeisen Bank offers a functionality, due to which the accountant or the entrepreneur can set a personal limit to each card. Per month, per week, per day. In this case, the amount of the balance available on the account will be displayed to the card’s holder in the message on conducting a transaction within this limit only.  Thus, it helps to avoid excessive costs and unnecessary information leakage. It is also possible to set a list of prohibited transactions.

Please, note! Each card is personalized and is issued on a specific employee’s name! There cannot be the card-key and “noname”duplicates issued in addition to it that are transferred from one employee to another depending on the tasks assigned by the management. In case of the employee’s resignation, the card is cancelled. An individual entrepreneur can have an additional card issued to his/her wife/husband or family members as authorized persons, whose authorities are certified by a notary. Transferring of one’s Business card poses a big risk.

One can make payments abroad by a Business card denominated in hryvnias, in this case the currency conversion will be done automatically that is convenient in itself. But it is way more convenient to make payments abroad by a currency Business card denominated in dollars or euros. A higher limit for cashless transactions applies for these cards – up to USD 20,000 per month in the equivalent. For comparison, the limit of UAH 150,000 (a little bit more than USD 3.5 thousand) applies for Business cards denominated in hryvnias abroad and the limit of cash withdrawal comprises UAH 17,500 per week. At the same time, one can withdraw from a Business card denominated in currency up to UAH 100,000 per week in the equivalent. More details on settlements and cash withdrawal limits in Ukraine and abroad are provided on the Bank’s web-site.

One can make payments via POS-terminals, purchases (for example, of small amount of goods for further sale), in general to carry out all private or business transactions one needs using the cards of both types, in the same way as in Ukraine. But in the first place, the Business-card is convenient for payments arising in relation to business-trips:

• payment of the fees for participation in business-events, exhibitions, conferences, partner projects etc.;

• payment of the fees for issuing visas, insurance;

• booking of hotels, accommodation costs;

• buying bus, train, flight tickets, paying of baggage transportation fees;

• transfer, renting a car, local taxes and duties;

• attending restaurants, meals;

• payment for fuel, use of the paid roads, other travel expenses;

• household services and representation costs;

• retail purchase of various goods, samples of goods etc.

Thus, using the Business-cards abroad, the entrepreneur spares himself/herself the concern of purchasing cash currency and declaring it. He or she does not depend any more on the restrictions for bringing the currency into the country/bringing the currency out of the country. And, in the same way as at home, enjoys a higher level of security of his or her money.

Please, note! It is forbidden to conduct settlements with foreign contractors and settlements under foreign economic activity agreements with the use of the Business-card. One more restriction – the amount of the costs during the business trip cannot exceed EUR 80 per each calendar day. 

As far as the card for individual entrepreneurs is concerned, by its functions the Business card became very much similar to the card issued to private individuals. For instance, it offers the possibility of connecting to electronic purses Google Pay or Apple Pay, making payments for the purchases on foreign trade platforms, using the services from all around the word. It is easier to use different services: the transaction history, compiling the reporting, payment of taxes and fees, analysis of expenditures of different categories, setting regular payments (via Raiffeisen Business Online).

Previously, the customers were obliged to open a separate account 2600 and a card account connected to it, to which the funds had to be transferred from the current account. Then the customer had to transfer funds from it to his or her private individual’s account. Frankly speaking, it was annoying. Now, the procedure became less complicated. The Bank offers “2 in 1 option”: a current account with a payment card providing a quick access to the funds. Both in the mobile application and at ATMs.

By the way, Raiffeisen Bank offers to its customers special conditions for withdrawal of cash from the Business-cards. Depending on the selected package and the amount, the transaction can be completely free of charge (for the holders of Business Elite+ package for the amount up to UAH 50,000 within a month) or, for more democratic packages, the fee of maximum 0.85%+UAH 5 can be charged with the possibility to withdraw cash within the month free of charge in the amount of UAH 20,000-30,000. For comparison – the fee for withdrawal of funds from the cards of private individuals or from the business-cards of other banks comprises 1-1.5% in Ukraine and 2% abroad. We would like to remind that in general during the martial law period the restriction for cash withdrawal set by the NBU applies – the withdrawal amount cannot exceed UAH 100,000 per day.

Please, note! Raiffeisen Bank offers attractive conditions of cash withdrawal, but only to business operating in compliance with the law. The Bank conducts the mandatory financial monitoring in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine in force, within the framework of which the financial transactions are checked and analyzed (cash transactions including). In case of detecting suspicious actions, the Bank informs the State Financial Monitoring Service and the authorized bodies. Thus, profitable conditions offered to the customers will not become source of income for those who unlawfully convert the cashless funds into cash.