Physical cards
For employees who buy in the real world: travel, meals, supplies, site purchases. Each card is tied to one person, one budget, and a defined limit. Activation takes two minutes in the app — see the activation steps.
The card, explained
The Divvy Card: spend limits that enforce themselves
The card that made Divvy famous is now the BILL Spend & Expense card. Same idea, sharper tools: every card — physical or virtual — carries its own budget, merchant rules, and real-time enforcement.
Real-time limit checks
Declines explained instantly
Chapter 1 — Card types
Physical cards, virtual cards, one control model
Virtual cards
Created instantly for subscriptions, vendors, or one-time purchases. Give each vendor a dedicated card number with its own ceiling — if a number leaks, only that card is affected, and it can be deleted in one click.
| Use case | Recommended card type | Suggested control |
|---|---|---|
| Employee travel | Physical card | Monthly limit + travel-only budget pool |
| SaaS subscriptions | Virtual card per vendor | Recurring limit matching the contract value |
| Marketing campaigns | Virtual card per campaign | One-time limit, expires with the campaign |
| Office supplies | Shared physical card | Weekly limit with merchant-category rules |
| Contractor payments | Virtual card | Single-use limit set to the invoice amount |
Chapter 2 — Controls
Controls that act before the purchase
The defining Divvy idea: a card that declines itself when it should. Every authorization passes through the rules below in milliseconds.
- Limits by amount and time. Set a ceiling per transaction, per day, or per month — hard stops or soft warnings.
- Merchant and category rules. Allow business categories, block everything else by default.
- Channel switches. Enable or disable online, in-store, and cash access per card.
- Instant lock. Freeze a card from the app the moment it goes missing; unfreeze when it turns up.
- Budget pools. Cards draw from shared department budgets, so overspend in one place is visible everywhere.
Declines are informative. When a transaction is blocked, the app tells the employee exactly which rule fired — no mystery, no embarrassment at the register.
Chapter 3 — Acceptance & protection
Accepted worldwide, monitored constantly
- Global acceptance. The card works wherever the underlying network is accepted — more than 190 countries, online and in-store.
- Fraud monitoring. Transactions are screened in real time for unusual patterns, with alerts pushed to the app instantly.
- Zero liability structure. Unauthorized transactions on company cards follow the platform's fraud protection terms rather than personal-card risk.
- Single-purpose numbers. Virtual cards mean a leaked number exposes one limited card — not a corporate account.
Chapter 4 — Best practices
How finance teams run cards well
One person, one card
Never share physical cards. Personal assignment makes receipts, approvals, and accountability automatic.
Right-size limits quarterly
Review usage every quarter. Limits that were right at launch drift out of alignment as teams and prices change.
A vendor card per vendor
Dedicated virtual cards per subscription turn reconciliation into pattern matching and contain breach damage.
Chapter 5 — FAQ
Divvy card questions, answered
What is the Divvy card?
A corporate payment card — physical or virtual — with spending limits and merchant controls enforced at the moment of purchase. It now operates as the BILL Spend & Expense card with identical behavior.
Are virtual cards supported?
Yes. Virtual cards can be created instantly for subscriptions, vendors, or one-time purchases, each with its own limit and expiration date.
Where is the card accepted?
Wherever the underlying card network is accepted — more than 190 countries, both online and in-store.
What happens when a limit is exceeded?
The transaction is declined in real time, and both the employee and the administrator receive an alert explaining which rule blocked it.
Can I lock a lost card?
Yes — instantly, from the mobile app or the web dashboard. Unlock it just as fast if it turns up; otherwise order a replacement.
Put the card to work
See how transactions become coded, reconciled records — automatically.