Looking for alternatives to prepaid cards? Here’s what Australian businesses should know
Last updated: 16 Jul 2025
Need a better way to manage business expenses? These alternatives to prepaid cards are built for global teams and Australian SMEs.
Key takeaways
- Prepaid cards require manual top-ups and may come with limits, making them less efficient for fast-moving businesses
- Some prepaid cards may charge high foreign exchange fees and international transaction fees, reducing your profit margins
- International debit cards let you spend directly from your business account
- Debit cards with multi-currency support can help you avoid conversion costs by letting you spend from your existing currency balances
- Choosing between prepaid and debit cards depends on your business needs–many companies benefit from using both
Prepaid cards can be a helpful tool for managing expenses, especially for small businesses or solopreneurs who want tight control over their spending. However, for businesses operating globally or at scale, these cards may come with limitations, such as the need to preload funds or manage multiple cards manually.
That’s where international debit cards can help. Linked directly to your business account, they offer a seamless way to pay suppliers, manage team expenses and transact in multiple currencies, without the operational friction.
In this guide, we explore the challenges with business prepaid cards and their alternatives.
Table of Contents
What is a business prepaid card?
Business prepaid cards work similarly to general business debit cards with one major difference – these cards require you to preload the money onto the card.
Some banks, credit card companies and international payment providers offer business prepaid debit cards. They may have low or zero fees, along with other business-focused features.
Challenges of using prepaid cards
While using prepaid cards, businesses can face multiple challenges, including:
Constant need to preload the cards
Prepaid cards need to be loaded before they can be used and there is usually a maximum limit. Moreover, some providers don’t allow reloading cards at all, which turns these cards into a single-use tool rather than a reusable business expense solution.
For businesses, that means risking funding delays or overloading cards unnecessarily, which can in turn lock up the working capital.
Considerably high foreign exchange
The primary goal of prepaid cards is convenience and spending control, not savings on global payments. As a result, many prepaid card providers may add a high markup to foreign exchange rates and some may even charge a flat international transaction fee on top of that. These fees can quietly affect your profit margins, especially if your business regularly pays overseas suppliers, contractors, or platforms.
Limited spend controls and reconciliation features
Without integration with accounting systems or transaction categorisation, it can be hard to track spending across cards and tie them back to specific invoices or departments. Most prepaid cards also offer limited or no permission settings, approval flows, or budget caps for teams.
For businesses operating globally or scaling teams, this creates inefficiencies, compliance risks and unnecessary admin work.
Why consider international debit cards as prepaid card alternatives?
Unlike prepaid cards, which require manual top-ups and may come with hidden fees, debit cards are directly linked to business accounts. That means you can spend from your existing balances with no preloading required.
You can also opt for multi-currency debit cards linked to multi-currency accounts, which let you hold funds in different currencies. So when you make an international payment, the funds are drawn directly from the relevant currency balance, helping you avoid unnecessary conversions and save on transaction costs.
Key advantages of international debit cards:
- Direct access to your business funds: Spend directly from your account in real-time. You don’t need to move money between wallets or load cards in advance
- Team-wide card management: Easily issue cards to multiple team members and set custom spending limits, categories and access rules for each user
- Real-time visibility: Monitor transactions instantly, categorise expenses and simplify reconciliation with built-in reporting tools
- Reward programs: Many international debit cards offer cashback, perks, or discounts on business tools, travel and software
- Optional multi-currency support: If your business trades globally, you can also opt for international debit cards linked to multi-currency accounts, which allow you to hold multiple currencies and spend directly from the existing balances
- Greater control and transparency: You get access to tools for transaction tracking and reconciliation
Best business debit cards in Australia: A smart alternative to prepaid cards
1. World Card
The World Card is a multi-currency debit card that supports payments in 150+ currencies and is designed to simplify business spending across borders. Powered by Mastercard, the debit card is linked to your World Account, a multi-currency account that lets you hold and manage local balances in over 15 currencies.
Receive payments from clients worldwide into your local currency accounts, then spend directly from these balances with your World Card. When you make purchases in any of the 15 supported currencies using existing funds in your account, you pay zero foreign exchange fees. For transactions in other currencies, you’ll access competitive exchange rates to keep your costs low.
With the World Card, you control exactly how much money is available for spending, helping you manage budgets and avoid overspending. Plus, you can issue up to 20 cards at no extra cost for your team, each with customisable spending limits, making it easy to track and control business expenses.
Take control of your business spending with the World Card – the smart way to manage global expenses, from supplier payments to travel costs.
- 1% cashback* on all business spend, always
- Free to apply, with no ongoing costs
- Save more with zero FX fees on 15 currencies
- Equip your team and business with up to 20 cards
- Set custom spending limits for budgeting and expense control
| World Card fees | |
|---|---|
| Card | Free (up to 20) |
| Account linked to the card | Free |
| International transaction fees |
2. Wise Business card
The Wise Business card is also a multi-currency debit card that helps businesses make payments in multiple currencies. Linked to the Wise Business Account, the Mastercard-powered card supports online and in-store transactions in 40+ currencies.1
Wise business users can fund their account (with a 2% funding fee)2 and then use the debit card to make purchases directly from their available currency balances.
When spending from a currency you already hold funds in, you avoid foreign exchange fees. If a currency conversion is needed, Wise applies a conversion fee starting from 0.63%.2
Each Wise Business account includes one physical card and up to three virtual cards.3 To access more cards, you’ll have to remove and replace an existing virtual card.
Take a look at our in-depth World Card vs Wise Business Card comparison to explore how these two multi-currency debit cards stack up across key areas such as multi-currency support, card fees, international transaction charges, team card management and cashback perks.
Pros and cons of the Wise Business card
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
**Note: Their main business card landing page lists a one-time account registration fee of AUD 22. However, their pricing page shows an updated fee of AUD 65. This discrepancy may be due to outdated information on some pages 1 2
| Wise Business Card2 | |
|---|---|
| Card | Free |
| Account linked to the card | AUD 65 one-time fee |
| International transaction fees |
3. Airwallex Borderless card
The Airwallex Borderless Card is another multi-currency debit card available that lets businesses make payments in multiple currencies anywhere Visa is accepted.4 It’s linked to the Airwallex business account.
You can accept payments into your Airwallex account in multiple currencies and use those funds to preload the card. For payments made in any of the 10 supported currencies (like USD, EUR, GBP, AUD and more), you pay no foreign exchange fees, as long as you have a sufficient balance in that currency.6 For all other currencies, Airwallex applies a conversion fee starting from 0.5%.5
The number of cards you can issue depends on your Airwallex pricing plan. Each card has individual spending controls, giving you full oversight over employee and business expenses, although expense tracking is only available on higher priced plans.5
→ Take a look at our in-depth Airwallex review to learn about the features of the foreign currency account. Also, explore our in-depth World Card vs Airwallex Card comparison to see how these cards stack up against each other.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Airwallex Borderless Card5 | |
|---|---|
| Card | Free |
| Account linked to the card | AUD 29–499 per month |
| International transaction fees | 0.5% for USD, HKD, CNY, AUD, EUR, GBP, CAD, SGD, CHF, NZD, JPY, 1% for all other currencies |
4. Payoneer card
Payoneer also offers a Mastercard-powered business card that lets you spend from specific currency balances in your Payoneer account.8 Each card is linked to a single currency: USD, EUR, GBP, or CAD. This means that for businesses operating in multiple markets, you’ll need a separate card for each supported currency.9
Funds must be preloaded into your Payoneer account, either by receiving client payments, payouts from marketplaces, or bank transfers. Payoneer users can only apply for the card if they have received a minimum payment of USD 100 in the last 6 months.11
An annual fee of USD 29.95 applies for the first card; additional cards are free.10
Payoneer offers cashback on eligible card spend to selected customers.8 12
Check our detailed Payoneer review to learn more about this business account
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Payoneer card10 | |
|---|---|
| Card | USD 29.95 per year for the first card; additional cards are free |
| Account linked to the card | Free |
| International transaction fees | Same-currency transfers have zero foreign exchange fees For currency conversions, Payoneer charges up to 3.5%13 |
| Card | Multi-currency support | International transaction fees | Free card | Account cost | Employee/additional cards | Cashback | Expense tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Card | Yes | ✅ Zero if paying in a supported currency with sufficient funds Up to 1.5% if conversion is required |
✅ Yes | ✅ Free | ✅ Up to 20 virtual cards | ✅ 1% on international spend* T&C apply |
✅ Yes |
| Wise Business | Yes | Zero if you have available funds in the same currency Otherwise, the currency conversion fee starts at 0.63%2 |
✅ Yes | ❌ AUD 65 one-time2 | ❌ Max 3 virtual cards; one physical3 | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Airwallex | Yes | 0.5% for major foreign currencies 1% for others5 |
✅ Yes | ❌ AUD 29–499/month | 🔄 Depends on plan | ❌ No | 🔄 On higher plans |
| Payoneer | No; one currency per card | Up to 3.5%13 | ❌ USD 29.95 for first card10 | ✅ Free | ✅ One per currency9 | ✅Offers cashback on some cards8 | ❌ No |
Find the right card for your Australian business
Prepaid business cards serve a clear purpose. They’re easy to issue, provide upfront spend limits and can help with budgeting. But for growing businesses, especially those making frequent international payments or managing larger teams, international debit cards offer more flexibility and real-time control.
By connecting directly to your business account and enabling multi-currency spending, they simplify global transactions while helping you stay on top of expenses.
1. https://wise.com/au/business/card
2. https://wise.com/au/pricing/business
3. https://wise.com/help/articles/2935762/how-do-i-order-a-wise-card
4. https://www.airwallex.com/au/business-account/cards
5. https://www.airwallex.com/au/pricing
6. https://help.airwallex.com/hc/en-gb/articles/900003301566-What-is-the-automatic-conversions-for-cards
7. https://help.airwallex.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4970990380943-How-do-I-choose-between-a-Company-Card-or-Employee-Card
8. https://www.payoneer.com/commercial-card/
9. https://payoneer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18226/~/account-with-card—faq
10. https://www.payoneer.com/en-in/about/pricing/
11. https://payoneer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail_iFrame/a_id/33988/c/3774
12. https://payoneer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44889/~/the-payoneer-global-cashback-card-plan-%E2%80%93-faq
13. https://payoneer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6118/~/what-is-the-currency-conversion
Disclaimer: The information contained is general only and largely our views. Before acting on the information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you, in light of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates, mentioned products/services and referenced material constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. WorldFirst shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from your reliance of such information.
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