Airbase vs Brex vs Stampli Card: Which is the best card for you?

Are you considering a corporate credit card to manage spending and cash flow?

Corporate cards help you efficiently manage spending by providing transparency into spending patterns, giving control over expenditures, and streamlining payment and approval workflows.

Navigating the costs and benefits of corporate card solutions can be daunting. Card providers like Brex, Ramp, Airbase, Divvy, and Stampli offer a dizzying array of reward programs, expense automation functions, and business system integrations. 

In this article, we’ll explore Airbase, Brex, and Stampli Card – three leading card solutions – and help you choose the right fit for your unique business needs.

Airbase vs Brex vs Stampli: How to choose the right card for your business

Corporate credit card solutions have come a long way from fantastic plastic cards and paper expense forms.

Companies today have a huge variety of card options to choose from. Let’s look at three ways credit card solutions can help your business manage expenditures.

1. Total spend and AP management in one system

In Stampli’s 2022 Card Benchmarking & Spend Management survey, almost half (44%) of finance leaders said their top spend management priority was to manage total spend. A corporate card solution that leverages automation technology helps your business improve spend tracking and reporting, decrease processing costs, mitigate payment risk exposure, and ensure regulatory compliance. For example, many card providers offer automated card submission, creation, and approval workflows to eliminate slow, paper-based manual processes.

2. Integration with ERPs and business systems

Some card solutions (like Stampli Card) integrate with spend and AP management platforms. These platforms can integrate with ERPs, accounting software, and human resource information systems (HRIS), to let you manage your corporate card and AP spend in one place. This also lets you share up-to-date and accurate information across your business to improve bookkeeping and accounting process efficiencies. 

3. Real-time spend visibility and control

You can’t manage what you can’t see. Many card management solutions automatically track transactions and purchase details as they are made so you don’t need to wait until the end of the month for statements to arrive. Platforms also let you control expenditures by issuing cards as needed and pre-coding transactions, spend limits, MCC restrictions, and other controls.

The comparison: Airbase vs Brex vs Stampli Card

Each of the providers we’re exploring brings a lot to the table. Let’s take a quick look at competitors before we jump into the ratings.

Who is Stampli?

Founded in 2015, Stampli is the leading accounts payable automation company. It provides corporate credit cards, accounts payable automation, integrated payment processing, and expense management.

Who is Airbase?

Founded in 2017, Airbase is a cards-centric spend management platform that offers corporate cards, employee expense management, and bill payment services.

Who is Brex?

Also established in 2017, Brex is a fintech company that offers business charge cards and bank account services to US technology companies and startups. In 2022, Brex announced it was exiting the small business marketplace to focus on the enterprise market.

Keep reading to see what makes these corporate credit card solutions unique so you can make an informed decision.

Stampli Card: best card for Accounts Payable spending

Stampli Card is the credit card built for AP spend, not just expenses. It lets Accounts Payable manage employee expenses and vendor spending on a unified card management and AP automation platform.

Card Types

Stampli Card comes in a number of different types to give greater flexibility and control over spending:

• Accounts payable cards: Pay utility bills, rent, subscriptions, supplier invoices, and other recurring services.
• Travel & entertainment cards: Gain visibility and control over employee T&E spending and earn cash back on expenditures.
• Expense cards: Allow AP teams to stay on top of employee spend with pre-set spending limits and spending restrictions.
• Physical and virtual cards: Unlimited cards as needed, with settings for different types of spending.

ERP integrations

Stampli Card combines with Stampli’s industry-leading AP automation solution to seamlessly integrate card spend management functionality with an industry-leading 70 ERPs and accounting platforms, including SAP, NetSuite, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, and QuickBooks Online. Stampli’s pre-built API integrations can be implemented with no coding or changes to your ERP or IT infrastructure.

Spend management capabilities

Stampli Card is optimized for AP spending and employee expenses, giving you unparalleled control over total company spending and working capital management. By paying vendor invoices instantly with Stampli Card, you can avoid late payment fees and earn cash back on purchases. 

Stampli Cards can be pre-coded for specific vendors or categories, and transactions can be pre-approved to reduce the risk of errors or fraud. You can also create individual cards to manage recurring payments or subscriptions, making tracking and controlling these often-overlooked expenses easier. 

For even more visibility and control over spending, you can combine Stampli Card with Stampli Direct Pay, Stampli’s integrated payment automation solution, to centralize all payment methods (ACH, check, wire transfer, credit card) on one AP automation platform.

Card management

Stampli offers unlimited pre-coded cards and card types to provide granular control over employee and AP spending. You can restrict cards by spend limit, MCC restrictions, expense type, department, or category. Card purchases can be approved or rejected in real-time. Stampli Card can be configured for specialized spending needs such as expense cards, cyclical cards, and single-use cards, and are available as physical or virtual cards.

Visibility into card transactions

Stampli’s card management tools let you easily view all cards issued and active, card usage stats (including individual cards and entire credit limit), transactions per card, employees submitting requests for cards, real-time transactions, and rebates earned. In addition, Stampli Card syncs transactions to your ERP or accounting software when they post, not when the statement arrives at the end of the month.

User adoption and process automation

Corporate card solutions with complex manual workflows require extensive employee training and can reduce user adoption. Stampli Card automates key AP workflows like matching receipts to expenses, sending reminder emails to approvers, syncing transactions to your ERP, and enforcing internal controls. Employees can easily submit receipts using the Stampli Card Android or iOS mobile app.

Stampli also automates time-consuming manual invoice management processes to streamline expense management. Employees can easily submit expenses by uploading receipts to the Receipt Library where they are auto-matched to card transactions.

Rewards and cashback

Stampli Card offers up to 1% cashback on all card purchases, including vendor payments, offering a great way to turn your accounts payables into a profit center.

Customer support

Stampli offers unlimited 24/7 support and training. 

The bottom line

Leveraging Stampli’s advanced accounts payable automation solution with Stampli Card built in provides an ideal payment solution for accounts payable. Unlike most business credit card options that focus solely on employee expenses, Stampli Card integrates employee expenses and supplier payments into a unified solution that enhances visibility, control, and efficiency, allowing you to manage all AP spend effectively.

Airbase: The best card for managing employee expenses

Airbase is a spend management platform for corporate cards, employee expenses, and bill payments for venture-funded mid-market customers in the SaaS and technology sector. 

ERP integrations

Airbase specializes in employee expense management, so it’s no surprise that the platform integrates with several HRIS systems like Okta, Workday, and Rippling and offers GL integrations with ERPs and accounting platforms, including Xero, NetSuite, and Sage. Airbase also integrates with communication platforms (such as Slack), procurement and travel management solutions, and provides credit card integration with American Express and Silicon Valley Bank.

Spend management capabilities

Airbase provides an interface for employees to submit expense reports from their desktop or an iOS or Android app. It uses automated approval workflows to ensure compliance with expense policies and allows companies to set mandatory fields, time limits for expense submission, and spending limits. Airbase’s platform also flags or blocks any out-of-policy request to help control fraud and shadow spend. 

Card management

Airbase offers configurable virtual and physical cards with spend limits and transaction restrictions. American Express or Silicon Valley Bank cardholders can migrate their card programs to the Airbase platform without switching card providers. 

Visibility into card transactions

The Airbase expense management solution provides reporting and analytics capabilities to provide insights into employee spending patterns. It includes features such as automatic receipt data entry, automated audit trail, approval records, and real-time visibility into expenses to help managers spot trends, identify issues, and make expense management decisions.

User adoption and process automation

Airbase encourages user adoption of their credit cards and expense management solutions by simplifying the expense reporting and approval process. Features like mobile automated receipt scanning and automated approval and reimbursement workflows help streamline manual processes.

Rewards and cashback

Currently, Airbase offers cash back on their pre-funded credit cards.

Customer support

Airbase offers customer support via email, knowledge base, and online chat.

The bottom line

With its flexible card programs and expense management platform, Airbase is a great solution for companies who want a centralized expense management solution. Certain spend management features, such as purchase orders, multi-subsidiary support, or customizable approval workflows, are only available at higher pricing tiers.

Brex: The best card for startups

Brex describes its credit cards as “corporate cards for startups and enterprises.” It offers physical and virtual cards and an array of startup-friendly features.

ERP Integrations

Brex integrates with a limited number of ERPs and HRIS systems, including Acumatica, Intacct, and NetSuite. It also offers several integrations with communications, automation, and SSO platforms like Microsoft Teams, 1Password, Slack, and SAP Concur.

Spend management capabilities

Brex is a spend management platform designed to help businesses pay expenses efficiently. Its card management solution enforces employee spending controls by use case, level, department, and location. In addition to spend management, Brex also offers a simple bill payment (accounts payable) solution to help manage invoices.

Card management

Brex offers a wide range of custom card types tailored for startups’ needs, including T&E cards, purchase cards, employee benefits cards, one-time cards, and more. Brex cards can be configured to automatically collect itemized receipts compliant with tax laws, generate memos, and restrict purchases by vendor, category, department, location, or other criteria.

Visibility into card transactions

The Brex card management system provides real-time expense tracking and automated expense reviews, allowing businesses to monitor expenditures and card limits by team, individual, or subsidiary. Brex also automates document collection to ensure supporting documentation is available for each transaction.

User adoption and process automation

Brex provides a customer hub to help customers implement their cards and card management software. They also offer streamlined accounting features like automated compliance and custom expense policies and controls — a valuable benefit to cash-strapped startups.

Rewards and cashback

Brex’s rewards program is geared toward startups. Card purchases earn rewards that can be spent on products and services such as billboard advertising, consulting services, software, and more. The rewards program also includes a points accelerator, allowing businesses to multiply their awards by using their cards to purchase services such as ridesharing, travel, restaurants, and software.

Customer support

Brex offers customer support by email, phone, or online chat.

The bottom line

With high credit limits, rewards, payment amortization, and features tailored for startups, Brex is particularly beneficial for growing companies needing access to credit. It’s a good spend management solution for early-stage companies that don’t need advanced internal controls or accounts payable processes. 

Final considerations – choosing the right card

Corporate cards can be a powerful tool to help you manage spending. Carefully consider your current and future spending needs and business growth. Airbase is great for companies needing to manage employee expenses, Brex offers attractive benefits for startups, and Stampli Card provides a comprehensive solution for companies who want to control their total AP spend.

Consider Stampli Card as your go-to platform for efficient and effective expense management. With its integration capabilities, smart spend controls, and support for international payments, Stampli Card empowers businesses to streamline their expense processes, reduce manual work, and gain real-time visibility into their financial data.

Stampli Card goes beyond corporate credit cards to provide higher visibility and management over expenses. View Stampli Card purchases in real-time, with instant access to transactions, sync purchases to your ERP, and limit purchases and spending limits by cardholder, type of expense, vendor, and more. All card data is accessible and manageable in real-time to give total control over spend.

Learn how Stampli can make payment and expense management painless for your business. Set up a free demo today.