How to choose the right bank card for personal and business needs

This month Genome is talking bank cards and everything you should know about them. Last time we described the most common types of credit and debit cards. 

But there are more important factors to take into consideration while choosing the card, and today we are covering the specifics for both individuals and businesses who are in search of the best credit/debit card for them.   

Choosing the right credit card/debit card for personal use

Most people will need a bank card for personal reasons at one point in their lives, whether to get salaries, for convenient contactless payments or to send money to your family. Speaking of the latter, you can transfer funds within the country or internationally – learn how to do that in this article about money transfers.   
 
Back to the personal cards: your first should decide which type of card is right for you – credit or debit. 

Choose a credit card to have some extra cash for instant payments and purchases, but make sure you save enough money to give back to the bank at the end of the month. Otherwise, you will have to deal with high-interest rates. Having a good credit score is a must while applying for a credit card – or else, your credit limit will be pretty low.

A debit card is perfect for people who want to make contactless payments without worrying about spending too much money – there are no credit limits and high fees. Debit cards also usually have various cashback offers. On the other hand, it means that you cannot take credit from the bank if there’s a purchase you won’t afford with your funds.

When you’re done with this, take notice of these criteria before deciding on which personal card deal sounds best for you:

• The bank/ payment service provider (PSP) you are getting a card from, is secure and reliable;
• Learn all about possible fees and monthly payments for bank services to avoid unpleasant surprises;
• Make sure the bank account the card is attached to has all the necessary features you might require. Some basic ones are currency exchange, internal and international money transfers, savings account, etc;
• It’s better to have a chip card – a card with a microchip embedded into it, which encrypts the data and makes payments more secure;
• Check if you can withdraw money in any place in the world, is there a fee for it, and if the fees vary when you withdraw funds from an ATM of other banks;
• Find out if there are cashback, bonuses, or rewards for using your card, and compare it to other banks’ offers;
• The bank or PSP should have a support team in contact any time you have any issues with the card.

Picking a credit card/debit card for business

Like in the case with personal cards, you too should choose between a credit and debit business card.

Credit cards might be great for small companies, as some of them offer valuable bonuses and cashback for purchases, and are usually better protected from fraud. Non the less, there is still a risk of high service fees and interest rates.

With a debit card, you can’t take the credit and the rewards aren’t as promising, but there’s no overspendings or interest for not paying the bank on time.

Now let’s cover the main thing to pay attention to when you are ordering a business credit/debit card:

• Before contacting a bank or a PSP you are going to open an account at and receive a card, make sure they offer services for companies of your kind. You see, not all financial institutions work with both low-risk and high-risk businesses like Genome does. Also, take other important details into consideration, like the number of transactions being processed, features like currency exchange and international money transfers, etc;
• Pay attention to fees and possible interest you might pay for using the bank’s services – again, the prices may vary depending on whether you own a low-risk or a high-risk company;
• Are there any limits – better to know beforehand: be aware of money withdrawal and transaction limitations;
• The bank/PSP should have a set of tools not only to protect your data with a microchip on the card but also to prevent chargebacks and fraud from occurring. For instance, Genome is working with Covery anti-fraud platform to ensure our clients’ funds are secured;
• Giving access to your business funds to other employees is possible if your bank offers corporate cards, which are connected to a companies’ bank account. The employees can take care of business expenses with set spending limits; 
• Compare interest rates and other bonuses which come with getting a business card among different banks before making a final decision.

Business card for personal use: is this allowed? 

The short answer is yes – it is possible to use a business card for personal expenses. But should you? Probably, not the best idea. You see, most issuer banks will deactivate the card if they find out you use it to buy things for yourself. Thus, setting up a new business card is time-consuming.

Moreover, mixing your personal and business funds is considered unreliable by some. For instance, it can damage your chances, if you will need to take a loan down the road. Not to mention your risk to get your company into financial trouble is you overspend.

Using a personal card for business: is this a problem? 

Yes, you can spend money from your personal card on the business expenses, and your card won’t be revoked by the bank. Even if this prospect seems tempting, we still do not recommend doing that. 

Mixing your personal and business funds is quite inconvenient when it comes to taxes – you will need to separate these expenses, and this might be quite a headache. There’s also an issue with overspending money you might need for your personal life emergencies later, as well as a risk of damaging your credit score.

Now, when you know what to look out for when choosing personal and business cards, its time to explore the possibilities that banks offer. You don’t have to go too far though, as we at Genome has what it takes to satisfy your demands.  

Open multiple personal, business, and merchant accounts* and manage them all completely online from one dashboard. Our onboarding process is fast and easy, requiring only the basic information without unnecessary lengthy documentation – open a personal account within a day, and start accepting payments* on your website within 72 hours after the onboarding.

*Please note that Genome’s merchant services have been temporarily unavailable since September 2024.

The exciting news is that soon Genome is launching our very own cards for both personal and business wallet users. Genome will offer its customers to order multiple multicurrency virtual and physical cards, which are easy to set up and manage online – from our dashboard or app.

Thus, you can get an international physical debit card for personal banking on the go, which allows for worldwide money transfers. A virtual multicurrency card is great for online shopping and to track all your transactions online, store funds, and buy things in different currencies. Make payments to different regions and save money while you at it.

Need more tools for business? Then Genome’s corporate debit card is something you should check out – this card is perfect for tracking the business expenses, while it’s used in any store, ATM, or POS-terminal globally. There are also will be virtual corporate cards for online purchases with instant remote access.

Genome’s team put a lot of thought into making the cards extra secure, hence Covery anti-fraud platform tools are used for all cards’ protection. You will also be able to order physical cards without a CVV/expiration date on them, so that fraudsters could not use this information. In this scenario, the CVV/expiration date can be found in the Genome’s app, but only after the cardholder’s identity is verified.

We advise you to keep an eye on our social media, as we will be announcing all the latest news regarding the cards there, as well as in our blog. Meanwhile, you might want to learn more about the account opening and our other services on our website.