Business credit card guide for Hong Kong startups: How to reduce cost and improve expense control

Hong Kong’s business market has always moved at speed, so startups that are slow to sort out their finance setup can quickly fall behind. That’s why choosing the right financial tools has become a critical concern for many companies. In this article, we look at why it’s important to go beyond annual fees and rewards when selecting a business credit card. We’ll introduce you to Airwallex – the modern financial platform that supports both local and cross-border spend, centralising payments, subscriptions, approvals, and reimbursements in one place.

This guide also explains the key differences between corporate cards and personal cards, and the key features to look for when choosing a card for your company. Learn how Airwallex can support your everyday operations and cross-border growth with no annual fees, 0% international transaction fees, and multi-currency capabilities.

What is a business credit card? How is it different from a personal credit card?

A business credit card is a payment tool that companies use for paying operating expenses. It usually links to a multi-currency account and deducts funds from that balance when paying for recurring and one-off costs, such as online advertising, SaaS subscriptions, cloud services, business travel, and supplier invoices. With a business credit card, your finance team can record all spending at the company level.

A personal credit card, meanwhile, ties directly to an individual’s liability and credit record. If your employees use personal cards for company spend, it’s often harder for your finance team to separate business and personal expenses. This can complicate tax filing, audits, and cash flow management, and also prevent your business from building an independent corporate credit history.

Why do companies need business credit cards for expense management?

Many startups and advertising or marketing agencies still run company spending through the founder’s personal credit card, or rely on employees who pay out of pocket to claim back expenses themselves. This not only blurs the line between business and personal spend, but also drives up admin costs as finance teams have to hunt for receipts and handle reconciliation manually.

As cost-efficiency is key in the business landscape, companies should make use of modern financial platforms to build a single, automated “from payment to reconciliation” workflow. With the right setup, companies can gain full control and visibility over their expenses, such as assigning certain credit cards for paying advertising costs and applying preset rules to specific transactions, without slowing down day-to-day operations. 

With an Airwallex Corporate Card, you can create dedicated virtual corporate cards for each advertising channel, such as social media or search ads. It lets you set weekly or monthly spend limits and restrictions on merchant categories for each card, so you can monitor the costs behind your return on ad spend (ROAS) in a single interface, and immediately freeze a card if you spot unusual activity.

When employees pay for SaaS and cloud services using corporate cards, Airwallex’s system can automatically capture receipt data, categorise spend, and sync it into accounting tools like Xero, NetSuite, and QuickBooks. This automation helps you compress month-end closes and tax preparation from days to hours, freeing your finance team to focus on higher-value tasks instead of repetitive data entry.

How to choose the right business credit card?

When choosing a business credit card, you should look beyond cashback rebates or headline rewards and consider four key factors: fees, cost savings, management capabilities, and ease of application. If your business spends heavily on cross-border advertising, it is especially important to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) over a year, including FX fees, international transaction fees, and the time your team spends on admin.

Comparing business credit card costs

The table below compares traditional business credit cards with the Airwallex Corporate Card across three areas: annual fees, international transaction fees, and exchange rates.

Cashback vs. real business savings

Frequent flyer miles and points have always been the headline selling points for many business credit cards. These perks may look attractive, but they don’t always help you smooth cash flow or bring down your day-to-day operating costs effectively.

The real impact of Airwallex Corporate Card comes from the $0 foreign transaction fees and FX rates that sit close to the interbank rate. For companies that pay overseas SaaS subscriptions or run advertising in foreign currencies, the combination of cashback plus reduced FX costs means each dollar of spend can go further in reducing overall operating costs.

Comparing management features: expense control and accounting integrations

When comparing business credit cards, it’s also important to look at how each option helps you control spending and streamline your accounting workflow. Key factors to consider include the level of control you have over each card, real-time visibility into transactions, receipt handling and approval workflows, and integration capabilities.

The table below compares the expense management capabilities of traditional business credit cards and Airwallex Corporate Cards. With Airwallex, you can instantly issue virtual cards, set limits for each card, and track real-time spend by department, project, or supplier from a single dashboard. The platform uses AI to capture data from receipts and automatically categorise expenses, then syncs everything into your cloud accounting software.

Application speed and onboarding experience

Beyond ongoing fees and management features, the application and onboarding process can also affect your team’s productivity. Traditional business credit cards often require in-person paperwork and longer approval times, whereas Airwallex lets you apply online and start issuing cards in minutes, with the flexibility to choose between virtual and physical cards for different use cases.

Common challenges for startups and growing companies

If you run a startup or a marketing agency in Hong Kong, it’s easy to run into tax difficulties if you mix personal and business expenses because audits demand clear, well-organised records to back every transaction. By using business credit cards to manage business expenses centrally at the company level, you can maintain clear transaction records. This helps to cut down on disputes and manual reconciliation during tax filing and audits. Another common challenge is the combination of high overseas transaction fees and opaque FX rates, which quietly add to your cross-border payment costs and eat into already-tight margins. Instead of absorbing extra fees on every international payment, you can use modern business credit cards that charge 0% foreign transaction fee and offer FX rates closer to interbank rates, turning hidden costs into tangible savings for your business.

Airwallex Corporate Card: The modern expense management solution for global businesses

A modern business credit card today is more than just a way to earn cashback – it should act as the backbone of your global expense management. To meet these demands, the Airwallex Corporate Card works as a central expense management tool that helps your team track, control, and reconcile spend in one place, combining competitive pricing, global and multi-currency capabilities, and end-to-end automation.

No annual fees and foreign transaction fees

With no annual fees, $0 foreign transaction fees on eligible spend, and FX rates that are close to interbank rates, the Airwallex Corporate Card cuts down on your global payment costs. If your company regularly pays for advertising and SaaS in foreign currencies, you can enjoy consistent savings that come from a transparent FX and fee structure.

Global and multi-currency capabilities

By opening multi-currency accounts with Airwallex, you can reduce forced conversions and speed up settlements by collecting payments from customers worldwide in their local currencies. The platform offers competitive FX rates with a markup as low as 0.2% above interbank rates, helping you lower FX costs when paying overseas suppliers or partners.

End-to-end automation and seamless integrations

With Airwallex, you can instantly issue virtual cards for teams, campaigns, or specific vendors, and set card-level limits, MCC controls, and expiry dates for each card. If you use the cards with Airwallex Expense Management, you can help your finance team cut manual work and accounting costs as card issuing, spend, receipt capture, approvals, and posting to your ledger all sit in a single workflow that integrates with accounting tools like Xero, NetSuite, and QuickBooks.

Apply for an Airwallex Corporate Card in minutes

If you ​​run a startup or a growing small and medium-sized enterprise in Hong Kong, you can create your Airwallex Corporate Card quickly through a simple, fully online application.

You first sign up online for an Airwallex Business Account, with no account opening fee, then upload your Know Your Customer (KYC) documents, such as your Business Registration Certificate, Certification of Incorporation, and basic information for key personnel. After approval, which can take as little as 48 hours, you can log in to the platform, create and issue Corporate Cards in a few clicks, and create dedicated cards for different purposes or campaigns to track spend by activity or client. 

You can set transaction rules, including MCC controls, expiry dates, and per-transaction limits, for each card. Virtual cards are ready to use for online payments immediately and can be added to digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and you can also request physical cards from the platform if your team needs to pay in person. If your business needs a higher spending capacity, you can also apply for credit limits through the platform, and request physical cards if your team needs to pay in person.

Frequently asked questions about business credit cards 

How is the credit limit for business credit cards determined?

Traditional business credit cards usually set fixed credit limits based on your company’s financials, years in operation, and banking history, and some providers may also require a personal guarantee from the business owner, which can be inconvenient for early-stage startups. Meanwhile, Airwallex Corporate Cards allow you to set custom limits and rules, or apply for credit limits to enable the credit card function for your business. Your Airwallex business credit limit reflects your company’s size, cash flow, transaction volumes, and overall financial performance at the legal‑entity level, so employee cards draw from one credit line while supporting sustainable growth for your business.

Can startups and self-employed persons apply for business credit cards?

It’s often difficult for startups and self-employed persons to apply for business credit cards, as many traditional banks require a minimum operating history and stable revenue before approving an application. Meanwhile, Airwallex accepts applications for its Corporate Cards from registered businesses of different sizes, including startups and growing companies. You can first apply for an Airwallex Business Account online by submitting your company registration documents and KYC information for key personnel. After approval, you can create and issue Corporate Cards in a few clicks, with virtual cards ready to use instantly.

What’s the difference between virtual and physical corporate cards?

You can use virtual business credit cards for online bills, such as advertising fees, cloud services charges, or supplier invoices. Physical cards, on the other hand, are more suitable for in-person spending and business travel, such as transport, dining, and on-site procurement.

What accounting systems can Airwallex connect to?

You can enjoy seamless integration with leading accounting platforms, such as Xero, NetSuite, and QuickBooks, with Airwallex. The platform can also connect with other systems via file exports or APIs. This lets you automatically sync transactions, tax codes, and accounting entries into your existing workflows, reducing duplicate data entry and manual errors.

If you’re not just looking for a high-rewarding credit card, but a single platform that automates expense management and reconciliation, Airwallex helps you control expenses smarter today and scale faster tomorrow. Open an Airwallex Business Account today and start using Corporate Cards designed for global businesses.

Disclaimer: This article was prepared in January 2026 based on voluntary online research and publicly available information. We have not personally tested every tool or provider mentioned. This article is for educational purposes only, and readers should independently evaluate each service provider based on their specific business requirements. Content is updated every six months. To request an update, please contact us at [email protected].