Budgetly FAQ | Pricing, Cards, Security & Getting Started
Answers to common questions about Budgetly pricing, cards, security, Xero integration, and getting started with expense management.
Pricing & Plans
How much does Budgetly cost?
Plans start at $99/month (billed annually) for Essentials, $279/month for Premium, and custom pricing for Enterprise. All plans include unlimited users — you only pay for active cards. See plans and pricing.
Why is Budgetly priced per card, not per user?
Per-user pricing discourages businesses from issuing cards to contractors, part-time workers, or anyone who doesn’t justify a monthly seat fee. Spending still happens — it just goes through reimbursements, petty cash, or shared cards with no visibility.
Budgetly charges per card because issuing a card should be instant and frictionless. You can issue a virtual card in seconds, set a one-time budget, and cancel it when the job is done. Unlimited users are included on every plan.
Does pricing include GST?
All prices listed are exclusive of GST. If you are an Australian business, GST is added to your invoice.
Are there any additional fees?
Budgetly is transparent about all costs. Beyond your plan subscription and per-card fee ($10/month per card), the following may apply:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Virtual card issuing | $5 (one-off) |
| Physical card issuing | $10 (one-off) |
| Foreign currency transactions | 2.99% of transaction value (Essentials & Premium) |
| Declined transaction (insufficient funds) | $1 per decline |
| ATM withdrawal — domestic | $3 per withdrawal |
| ATM withdrawal — international | $5 per withdrawal |
| ATM balance enquiry | $0.50 |
| Fraudulent chargeback | $50 (industry standard) |
| Bill payment | $2 per bill created |
Merchant surcharges and ATM operator fees are set by the merchant or ATM provider, not Budgetly.
Is there a lock-in contract?
No. You can choose monthly or annual billing and cancel at any time. Annual billing saves up to 17%. To close your account, contact your Account Manager or create a support ticket. Once transactions have settled, your balance is transferred back to your nominated business bank account.
Can I switch between plans?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately with a prorated credit for the remaining period on your previous plan. Downgrades also take effect immediately, but no prorated credit is applied. To switch from annual to monthly billing, the change is scheduled for the end of your current annual term.
Cards & Payments
What type of card does Budgetly issue?
Budgetly issues Visa corporate debit cards — both virtual and physical. Virtual cards are issued instantly. Physical cards arrive within 3 business days.
Can one person have multiple cards?
Yes. There is no limit to the number of virtual or physical cards a person can hold. This is useful for separating budgets by project, department, or purpose.
Can I use Apple Pay or Google Pay?
Yes. Budgetly cards can be added to Apple Pay and Google Pay for contactless payments. The per-transaction limit for mobile wallet payments is $500.
Are there transaction limits?
Daily spend limit is $60,000 with a maximum of 1,000 transactions. Monthly spend limit is $700,000 with a maximum of 15,000 transactions. These limits apply across all cards on the account.
Can I allow or block ATM withdrawals?
Yes. ATM withdrawals can be enabled or disabled per card. When enabled, the daily domestic limit is $2,500 and the daily international limit is $2,000. Budgetly does not charge a withdrawal fee, but ATM operators may charge their own fees.
Do cards have to be issued in someone's name?
Yes. Banking regulations require all cards to be issued to a named individual.
Account & Setup
How do I get started?
Start a 14-day free trial — no credit card required. When you’re ready to activate cards and live transactions, choose a plan and our onboarding team will have you live within 1–3 days.
Do I need a business bank account?
Yes. Deposits must come from a business bank account that matches your registered business name.
How do I deposit funds?
Transfer funds from your business bank account using the deposit instructions inside Budgetly. The first deposit takes 24–48 hours to clear. Subsequent deposits are reconciled in real time and available on cards immediately.
How long does setup take?
Most teams are live within 1–3 days. The application takes 2 minutes. Regulatory compliance approvals typically take 1–3 days (up to 10 in some cases) — you can start setting up budgets and users while this is processed. Enterprise customers with 50+ users receive priority onboarding, typically within 5–10 days.
Integrations
Does Budgetly integrate with Xero?
Yes. Budgetly has a native two-way integration with Xero. Transactions, receipts, categories, and GST sync automatically. No manual data entry or reconciliation required.
What about MYOB or QuickBooks?
Budgetly supports accounting exports to MYOB and QuickBooks. You can export coded transaction data and import it into your accounting software. A native Xero-style integration is the deepest, but MYOB and QuickBooks are fully supported via export.
How does Budgetly work with my accountant or bookkeeper?
Budgetly includes a read-only Accountant role on all plans. Your accountant or bookkeeper can log in to view transactions, receipts, and reports without being able to modify budgets or cards. Transactions sync to Xero automatically, so your accountant receives clean, coded data — not a shoebox of receipts at BAS time.
Security & Compliance
Is my financial data secure?
Yes. Budgetly uses 256-bit SSL encryption for all data in transit. Our servers are hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant provider. All accounts are protected by multi-factor authentication (MFA) and suspicious IP throttling.
Are my funds secure?
Yes. Funds deposited into your Budgetly account are held with an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI). Budgetly cannot access or use your funds for its own operations.
How does fraud detection work?
All card payments are monitored by Visa Advanced Authorisation, which processes over 150 billion transactions per year using AI-based fraud detection. Budgetly also provides real-time transaction alerts, card freeze controls, and duplicate payment detection.
What happens to my data if I cancel?
You retain ownership of all data you entered into the platform. Your finance team retains access to statements and transaction history after cancellation. Budgetly retains data in accordance with its Privacy Policy and data retention policies. You can request a full data export at any time.
Where can I find your legal documents?
All legal documents — terms and conditions, service agreement, product disclosure statement, financial services guide, and target market determination — are available in our legal hub.
Using Budgetly
Can I see my team's transactions in real time?
Yes. Every transaction, budget change, card issuance, and user action is visible in real time from the Budgetly dashboard. Administrators have full visibility across all cards and budgets.
Can I adjust budgets at any time?
Yes. Administrators can create, edit, pause, top up, or reduce budgets at any time. Budget changes take effect immediately.
What happens if a receipt isn't uploaded?
Transactions can still be pushed to your accounting software without a receipt. However, administrators can configure receipt requirements per budget and enable automatic receipt reminders via the mobile app and email.