Company cards let your people pay for travel and expenses with cards the company controls. This article explains who sees which cards, how to review a card's history, and how to read the amounts on a transaction.
Where to find it
Left sidebar → Expenses → Cards (/app/cards). The full Cards page is open to people the company has given card access. Card access is switched on per person on People, separately from expenses access.
Who sees which cards
- Director, Accountant, Top manager and Travel manager see all of the company's cards and can Issue card.
- Employees and Travellers see their own cards and use Request card, which goes for approval.
- Department admins see the cards of people in their department and all its sub-departments, plus their own cards. The list narrows automatically once you assign people to departments and set department admins on the Departments page (Users & Groups).
- The company owner always sees every company card.
- Cards of employees who are not in any department stay visible to all department admins. To show department admins only their own department, ask support to turn on "Own department only". Assign people to departments first.
How to see a card's history
- Open Cards and click a card.
- Go to the History tab. Each entry shows the date, what happened and who did it. Click "Show earlier" to load older entries. Automatic actions are shown as "System".
Recorded events: Card issued, Card limit changed, Card locked, Card unlocked, Card terminated, Card details revealed, Card spending controls changed, Card renamed, Card request decided, Limit request decided.
How to export card history
- On the Cards page, pick the Export period in the toolbar.
- Click Export history.
- An Excel file (
card-history-YYYY-MM-DD.xlsx) downloads with the columns Date, Event, What happened, Who and Card, covering every entry in the period.
The export includes the cards you can see.
How to read the amounts on a transaction
Open a transaction from a card's Recent transactions, from Wallet or from Budgets. The main amount is always what your company is charged. Two extra rows may appear:
- Authorised: the amount approved when the card was presented, shown when the final amount differs, for example after a tip, hotel incidentals or a fuel pre-authorisation.
- Merchant charged: the amount in the merchant's own currency, shown when the merchant priced in a different currency.
Good to know
- Card history records decisions about the card. Purchases are on the transactions list.
- A declined card request appears in the export with an empty Card column and the reason under "What happened".
- Limit changes read "was X, became Y".
- History recording started when the feature launched, so older cards may have an empty history for earlier actions.
- Balance check when issuing a card: on the Issue card details step, if the chosen Card account doesn't cover the limit right now, a yellow FYI box tells you. The card is still created, and its payments go through once the account is topped up. The same applies when raising a card's limit. People who can see account balances see this note.
- Cards that pay a supplier for a booked service need the full amount in the account when they are issued.
FAQ
Can I see who viewed a card number? Yes. The History tab shows "Card details revealed" with the person's name.
I issued a card but its payments are declined. What now? The card account didn't have enough funds. Top up the account and the card works, no need to reissue it.
Why was I charged more than the amount approved at the restaurant? The merchant settled a larger amount, for example with a tip. Compare Authorised with the charged amount at the top.
Why are there two amounts in different currencies? The merchant priced in its own currency (Merchant charged). Your company is charged the converted amount shown at the top.
I'm a department admin. Why do I see cards of people outside my department? Those people aren't assigned to any department yet. Assign them, or ask support to turn on "Own department only".
My history export only has headers. Nothing was recorded in that period. Choose a wider Export period.
Related articles
- Invoices: see and pay everything your company owes
- Wallet: your company balance, top-ups and paying from the balance
- Cashback on card spend
- Budgets: plan and track company spending
Still have questions? Message us in the support chat or at support@travel-code.com.