Issuing and Managing Corporate Cards

What is this page about: This article walks through issuing and managing Light corporate cards, from creating employee and vendor cards to setting up card accounts, funding them, and freezing, closing, or reconciling transactions. Use it if you're a company admin issuing cards for the first time, or a finance team member managing existing cards.

# On this page

• Supported Regions
• Cards Page Overview
• Creating Cards
• Card Accounts
• Funding Your Card Account
• Managing Cards
• Transactions and Reconciliation
• Reporting
• Related Articles

# Supported Regions

Light issues cards to entities in the EEA and the United Kingdom. Which countries you can issue in depends on your Adyen configuration, so check with Light support before planning cards for an entity outside those regions.

# Cards Page Overview

Open Cards in Light. The page has three tabs.

• Transactions: every card transaction. Default columns are Date, Merchant, Ledger account, Amount, Tax code, and Entity. Add Owner, Card, Posted, Receipt, Account, or Description as needed.
• Cards: every issued card. Columns are Owner, Vendor, Type, Form (Virtual or Physical), Card, Description, Spend, Account, and Entity.
• Accounts: every card account. Columns are Account number, Account name, Currency, Entity, Cards connected, Spent this month, and Available funds.

# Creating Cards

Light supports two card types: employee cards and vendor cards.

# Employee Cards

Use an employee card for individual spend, such as travel or supplies.

1. On the Cards page, click + Create card.

2. Select Employee card.

3. Toggle Physical card if the cardholder needs a plastic card. Virtual cards work immediately for online and contactless payments. Physical cards need a shipping address and take several business days to arrive.

4. Fill in the card details:

   • Owner: the employee this card belongs to.
   • Authentication phone number: used for 3D Secure verification.
   • Card account: the account this card draws from.
   • Card description (optional): a label for the card.
   • Limits: choose an interval (Unlimited, Per transaction, Weekly, or Monthly) and enter an amount.
   • Shipping address (physical cards only): first name, last name, street, house number, postal code, city, country, and state or province where applicable. Light pre-fills this from the owner's profile if the information is already there.

5. Click Create card, or Order card for a physical card.

A physical card shows a Physical badge on its card visual throughout Light.

# Vendor Cards

Use a vendor card for recurring payments to a single vendor, such as a subscription.

1. On the Cards page, click + Create card.

2. Select Vendor card.

3. Toggle Physical card if needed. The same virtual-instant, physical-days timeline applies as above.

4. Fill in the card details:

   • Owner: who the card belongs to.
   • Authentication phone number: used for 3D Secure verification.
   • Card account: the account this card draws from.
   • Vendor: select an existing vendor, or click Quick-add vendor to create one without leaving the form.
   • Card description (optional): a label for the card.
   • Limits: choose an interval and amount, same options as employee cards.
   • Shipping address (physical cards only): same fields as above.

5. Click Create card, or Order card for a physical card.

# Card Accounts

You need at least one card account before you can issue any cards. A card account groups cards together and sets their funding source and entity.

1. On the Cards page, open the Accounts tab.

2. Click + Create account.

3. Fill in:

   • Entity selection: the company entity this account belongs to.
   • Currency: the account's currency.
   • Account number: a 6-digit number used in your chart of accounts.
   • Account name: a label, auto-filled based on currency.

4. Click Create.

# Funding Your Card Account

Light card accounts run on prepaid funds through Adyen. Transfer money to your Adyen wallet in the same currency as the account, and Light makes the funds available as soon as Adyen processes the transfer.

Your bank's transfer time adds on top of that, typically no more than 2 to 3 days. If it's taking longer, contact Adyen directly to confirm they've received the funds.

# Managing Cards

# Viewing a Card

1. Open Cards.
2. Click a card row to open its details.

The card details drawer shows:

• Card visual: last four digits and freeze status.
• Balance: remaining balance, limit term, and spend against limit as a progress bar.
• Card details: owner and 3DS password (visible to the card owner only). Click Show more for phone number, address, entity, account, and tax code.
• Recent transactions, with a See all link to the full list.

# Editing a Card

1. Open the card's details drawer.
2. Click Edit.
3. Update the owner, the limits, or both.
4. Click Save.

# Freezing and Unfreezing a Card

Freezing blocks a card without closing it.

1. Open the card's details drawer.
2. Click Freeze card. The card blocks all transactions immediately.

To unfreeze:

1. Click Unfreeze card.
2. For a physical card, confirm the prompt titled Activate physical card: "By activating, you confirm you are in physical possession of your card." Click Activate.
3. The card is active again immediately.

# Closing a Card

Closing is permanent.

1. Open the card's details drawer.
2. Click the three-dot menu.
3. Click Close card.
4. Confirm. This cannot be undone. To give the cardholder a working card again, issue a new one.

# Adding a Card to a Mobile Wallet

Employee card owners can add their card to Apple Pay or Google Pay from the card details drawer, using Add to wallet.

# Transactions and Reconciliation

# Viewing Transactions

1. Open Cards, then the Transactions tab.
2. Use the status filter or search bar to find a specific transaction.
3. Click a transaction to see its details.

# Transaction Statuses

# How Reconciliation Works

1. Light posts a transaction to the ledger once it's Captured or Refunded.
2. Each posted transaction includes an offsetting line against the ledger account tied to its card account.
3. Because card accounts are prepaid, funded by bank transfer to your Adyen wallet, card spend settles as it happens and never reaches Accounts Payable as a monthly issuer bill.

# Reporting

To analyse card spend, export the card transaction data as CSV from the Transactions tab on the Cards page, then work with it in your spreadsheet or reporting tool of choice.

# Related Articles

• Setting Up Light Cards (KYC)
• Virtual Cards
• Expense Management Overview

Also searched as: company card, business card, virtual card, issue a card, freeze/close a card, card limits, card reconciliation, Adyen funding.