Ramp Vs. Brex: Which Card Is Better For Your Company?

Imagine your company just landed a major new client. Suddenly, your team is booking flights, paying vendors, and managing a flurry of new expenses. Without the right tools, keeping track of all these payments and expenses—especially across a team managing the new client’s account—can quickly become an administrative nightmare. This is where corporate cards come into play. They offer companies a streamlined way to handle their business expenses, vendor payments, travel costs, and more.

Brex and Ramp are two popular corporate cards that many businesses choose when they’re looking for efficient financial management solutions. But choosing the right one for your business isn’t always easy or straightforward. Comparing different card options’ rewards, integrations, and other features can be complex and time-consuming. And if you forego the comparison, you could end up with a card that isn’t the right fit—and adds headaches, instead of making your financial operations smoother.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the specifics of Brex and Ramp, helping you compare them and decide which corporate card is a better fit for your company’s needs.

Key features to look for in a corporate card

When choosing a corporate card for your business, you’ll likely consider many different features, and for good reason—the card you choose can have a serious impact both on your finances now and on your future growth. As you consider your options, here are some key corporate card features to keep in mind:

Multiple options for issuing cards: Ideally, you should be able to issue both physical and virtual corporate cards to employees. The process of issuing cards should be fast and straightforward, without prohibitive limits or unnecessary hurdles. Having this flexibility helps ensure that members of your team can access funds when needed—whether they need a physical card for travel expenses or a virtual card for online purchases.
Rewards program: A robust rewards program can offer significant value to your business. Look for incentive schemes that include cash back, miles, points to redeem, and other perks. Rewards can offer your business significant savings through cash back, travel perks, industry-unique benefits, and more.
Expense management tools: It's important to have a solution that integrates corporate cards with expense management tools in one consolidated platform. Expense management tools help businesses track, manage, and control employee and company expenses effectively. Features to look for include transaction monitoring to prevent unauthorized spending, direct integrations with accounting software, automatic receipt matching across transactions, and more. Having these tools in a unified system simplifies expense reporting and provides you with more comprehensive financial oversight.
Credit limit and financing options: Consider the maximum amount of credit or funds that cardholders can access. Adequate credit limits and attractive repayment terms are essential for supporting your business’ cash flow and making sure employees can cover necessary expenses without constraints. Look for corporate cards that offer competitive credit limits and repayment terms (i.e. net30, net7, or net1) that will meet your company's financial needs.

What is the Ramp corporate card?

The Ramp corporate card is a financial tool designed to streamline expense management and optimize spending for businesses. Ramp offers a comprehensive suite of features, making it a popular choice for companies looking to manage their expenses more effectively.

Some of Ramp’s more popular features include its expense management tools and spending limits, which help make sure employees adhere to budgets and expense caps. Additionally, Ramp integrates with a wide range of third-party tools, including accounting software and other financial platforms, which can help businesses expand their financial management capabilities.

Ramp card benefits

• Real-time expense management: Allows businesses to track and manage expenses as they occur, instead of retroactively like many other expense management solutions.
• Flexible spending limits: Allows businesses to set and adjust spending limits for employees, giving them closer control over spend.
• No personal guarantee required: Eliminates the need for founders to provide a personal guarantee.
• Integrations: Connects with popular third-party tools like QuickBooks, Xero, and other accounting software.
• Automated receipt matching: Simplifies expense reporting by automatically matching receipts to transactions.
• Cash back rewards: Offers cash back on USD purchases made in the US.
• No fees: No fees on domestic purchases, making it a low-cost option for businesses.

Ramp card requirements

To qualify for a Ramp corporate card, businesses typically need to:

• Be registered in the US (as a corporation, LLC, LP, or nonprofit).
• Have a minimum of $50,000 in a US bank account.
• Have operations and spending primarily in the US (though they support international transactions).

What is the Brex corporate card?

The Brex corporate card is a similar financial tool with a range of features that can help businesses simplify their financial management and enhance their operational efficiency. Brex offers credit and spending limits that are based on factors like your business’ cash flow or capital raised rather than solely its credit, which can help startups and scaling businesses access the funds they need without the constraints of traditional credit limits.

Brex also offers expense management tools like real-time tracking and categorization of expenses, and it integrates with popular accounting and expense management software, which can help you streamline the process of financial reporting and reconciliation. Additionally, Brex offers popular cash management solutions, like the Brex business account and a money market fund.

Brex card benefits

• High credit limits: Credit limits are based on cash balance, capital raised, and other factors, giving growing businesses flexibility and higher spending power.
• Expense management tools: Real-time tracking and categorization of expenses with integrations with accounting software.
• No personal guarantee required: Eliminates the need for founders to provide a personal guarantee.
• Cash management solutions: Offers business accounts, money market funds, and other high-yield accounts.
• Rewards program: Provides rewards including points for travel, cash back, and discounts on business services like billboards and offsite planning.
• No fees: Free from annual fees, interest charges, and foreign transaction fees.

Brex card requirements

Brex card requirements are different from traditional credit card eligibility criteria and can be complex. To qualify for a Brex corporate card, businesses generally need to:

• Have a US EIN issued by the IRS, a valid US incorporation, and a physical address.
• For daily repayment: Have any of the following criteria—at least $1 million in annual revenue, more than 50 employees, equity investment of any amount (accelerator, angel, or VC), or be a tech startup on the path to meeting any of these criteria and be referred by an existing Brex customer or partner.
• For monthly repayment:
• Meet any of the requirements for daily repayment and be part of an accelerator.
• Receive venture funding in any amount.
• Receive at least $100,000 in angel investment and plan to raise capital from an accelerator or VC in the future.

Additionally, startups are generally required to have at least $50,000 in cash to qualify, but this can be lower if they meet other criteria or are referred by existing Brex customers or partners.

Brex vs. Ramp: Which is the right one for your business?

Choosing between Brex and Ramp means you need a thorough understanding of your organization’s financial needs and priorities. Each card offers advantages that cater to different types of businesses.

The Brex corporate card may be better suited for startups and tech companies that need higher credit limits, or are looking for a more flexible rewards system with diverse payout options. Brex is also a popular choice for businesses that need cash management alongside their corporate cards; its high-yield business accounts and instant payouts make it worth considering if you have a young, growth-oriented company.

On the other hand, the Ramp corporate card is more geared toward established businesses with stable financial histories—those that are looking for robust expense management tools and automated financial processes. Ramp can help you streamline your expense tracking, integrate your corporate cards with your accounting software, and save with straightforward cash back benefits and a fee-free structure.

Ultimately, which card is the better choice will depend on every business’ needs. Consider your company's specific priorities to choose the card that aligns best with your goals.

Alternatives to Brex and Ramp corporate cards

While Brex and Ramp offer robust solutions for many businesses, there are other corporate card options that might better suit specific needs. Here are a couple of noteworthy alternatives:

• Stripe: Stripe corporate cards can be a good alternative for tech companies and subscription-based businesses, since Stripe provides a seamless integration with its payment processing platform, making it a strong choice for businesses that require a unified solution for managing both payments and expenses. Stripe’s extensive API capabilities allow for custom financial workflows and automated processes, which make it a flexible choice for tech-savvy companies. However, businesses looking for a robust rewards program might want to look elsewhere—Stripe only offers cash back. And the biggest downside: Stripe is currently invite-only for US-based companies.
• Rippling: Rippling Corporate Cards are the only spend management solution that unifies employee and spend data, allowing you to create hyper-custom card policies and automate control over how, when, and where employees can spend. By connecting corporate card usage directly with employee data, Rippling gives you precise control over spending and policy enforcement, leading to better financial oversight with less administrative work. Enforce spend exactly the way you want—automatically.

Rippling is always your best option

Automated spending controls are only the beginning.

Rippling may be the best corporate card alternative for many other reasons: Branded physical cards, instant virtual cards, rewards for every dollar you spend with no limit on points and no expiration.

Through Rippling’s Spend suite, you get comprehensive, automated expense management, removing hours of tedious, administrative work from your expense management processes and gaining unprecedented control over spend.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.