For most UAE companies, Pemo is the strongest default: unlimited free virtual cards, cashback on spend and real accounting integrations. Qashio suits teams with heavy ad/subscription spend; Alaan is the deepest on policy controls and now bundles a ruya-issued business account. Volopay adds multi-currency wallets and bill pay.
Catalogue updated
Pemo The top catalogue-ranked product in this list — reasons cite the published fields below, not a paid placement. Methodology
Products are shown in catalogue order, not as a personalised recommendation. Compare the details and confirm current terms with the provider. Methodology
Unlimited virtual cards on the free plan, receipt matching and accounting integrations (Zoho, QuickBooks, Xero). Cashback on card spend makes the free tier genuinely usable.
Kickoff plan AED 0/mo (2 card users, +AED 29/user); Essential AED 58/mo; Business+ custom (min 20 card users). Per Pemo help centre, verified Oct 2026.
Emirates NBD-backed corporate cards with strong merchant-category controls — good fit for ad spend and SaaS subscriptions where cashback compounds.
Qashio Points convert to cashback or Emirates Skywards miles (no conversion fee; cashback credited ~3–5 business days). Prepaid corporate card issued by NymCard (CBUAE-authorised). Per qashio.com, verified Oct 2026.
Mature GCC spend platform — deep per-card limits, receipt OCR and direct integrations. Strong for finance teams that want policy enforcement baked in.
Starter plan AED 0/mo (10 users). Premium/Enterprise cards can earn unlimited 2% cashback on international transactions. Card issued by NymCard (CBUAE-authorised, Visa licence). Per alaan.com/pricing, verified Oct 2026.
Free unlimited virtual cards with merchant/amount controls — fastest to issue for distributed teams. Integrations thinner than Pemo/Alaan but the card layer is solid.
Free for SMEs — no monthly subscription for up to 10 users; up to 2% cashback; prepaid Mastercard corporate card. Per getpluto.com, verified Oct 2026.
SME-friendly card + spend platform — simple onboarding for mainland and free-zone companies, virtual and physical Visa cards.
Pricing is per-plan; check current card and platform fees on Xpence, Sep 2026.
Unlimited virtual cards, bill pay, reimbursements and multi-currency wallets in one platform — card fee scales with monthly spend and is waived above a threshold.
UAE plan pricing not published on the site — request a quote. Operates via licensed partners; not a bank.
Corporate debit cards on the Wio Business account — physical and virtual cards with spend controls, tied to a CBUAE-licensed digital bank account.
Card issuance and account terms per Wio published material, Oct 2026.
| Product | Monthly fee | Cashback | Approval | Free zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pemo | AED 0 | up to 2% | 1–3 days | Yes |
| Qashio | AED 0 | up to 2% | 2–5 days | Yes |
| Alaan | AED 0 | up to 1% | 2–5 days | Yes |
| Pluto | AED 0 | up to 2% | 1–3 days | Yes |
| Xpence | Not published | Not published | 2–5 days | Yes |
| Volopay | Not published | Not published | 3–5 days | Not published |
| Wio Business cards | AED 0 | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Fact sources: help.pemo.io · pemo.io · qashio.com · alaan.com · getpluto.com · getpluto.com · volopay.com
Corporate card platforms (Pemo, Qashio, Alaan) issue charge cards with spend controls — limits per card, merchant categories, instant freeze — plus receipt capture. Traditional bank business credit cards offer a credit line but almost no controls or automation.
No separate bank account needed: you top up a float or link an existing UAE business account and spend from it. A valid trade license (mainland or free zone) is required.
Entry plans at Pemo, Qashio and Pluto are free for basic card issuing. Paid tiers add approval workflows, deeper integrations and higher limits — compare per-card and platform fees against the cashback you realistically earn.
Yes — fintech issuers advertise roughly 1–2% on eligible spend (often strongest on ad platforms and SaaS). Caps and eligible categories matter more than the headline number.
Most UAE fintech corporate cards are prepaid or charge products funded from your wallet — Pemo, Alaan and Qashio top up from your company account rather than extending a credit line. That is why they approve faster than bank credit cards: the risk is funded, not underwritten.
Pemo is the strongest default on cost (free virtual cards, cashback, accounting integrations). Alaan goes deepest on policy controls and now bundles a ruya-issued business account. Qashio suits teams routing heavy ad and subscription spend. All three onboard UAE-registered companies digitally.
No universal threshold — fintech platforms underwrite the entity rather than the turnover, so new companies qualify if the company file is clean. Bank-issued business credit cards are the ones that typically demand trading history or minimum balance.
Card subscriptions and per-card fees are ordinary business expenses — they sit in the books like any other cost and reduce the taxable profit on which the 9% corporate tax applies above the AED 375,000 threshold. Where a provider charges VAT it issues a tax invoice, and a VAT-registered business reclaims that input VAT in its return. The card creates no special tax position of its own; its real contribution is a cleaner expense record.
Through record-keeping rather than the tax itself. The Federal Tax Authority can review records going back five years, most SMEs file VAT quarterly and corporate tax annually through EmaraTax — so every card charge needs a receipt and an expense coding. Platforms that capture receipts at the point of purchase and sync coded transactions into the accounting system remove most of the manual chase at filing time.
Indirectly. The e-invoicing mandate rolling out from 2027 through Ministry of Finance-accredited service providers governs the invoices a company issues and receives — a card statement is not an invoice. What spend platforms contribute is coded, receipt-matched expense data flowing into the accounting system, which keeps the underlying books compliant when structured invoicing applies.
For startups watching fixed cost: compare monthly fee and minimum balance first — lowest published monthly cost: Pemo and Qashio and Alaan. For a free-zone company: shortlist first — free-zone onboarding on published criteria: Pemo and Qashio and Alaan. For founders outside the UAE: remote onboarding with no branch visit: Pemo and Qashio and Alaan. For anyone needing it live soon: fastest stated approval: Pemo and Pluto — still subject to compliance review. For import-export and multi-currency flows: widest published currency coverage: Alaan.