When to use them
Use a recurring (subscription) card to pay the same supplier automatically, on a set schedule, without creating a new card every time.
Use a Recurring card instead of a Single-Use Card when you're paying a recurring service from one supplier only (e.g. a LinkedIn or Intercom subscription).
Best Practice: Create one recurring card per supplier. Sharing a card across several suppliers makes it harder to trace payments back to the right supplier, and the card's budget runs out faster, which can block important subscriptions.
Before you start
Monthly, quarterly, and yearly recurrence is available for companies in the UK and EEA. In the US, only monthly recurrence is currently available.
Budget increases require approval according to your company's approval policy. Budget decreases don't require approval.
How recurring cards work
A recurring card stays valid for 4 years from the date you first view its card digits. For example, a card first viewed in July 2021 is valid until July 2025.
Most merchants only ask for your card details once, unless the payment is above 500 euros.
The card can be charged multiple times during each period, until its budget is reached. There's no limit on the number of transactions.
At the start of each period, the card's budget resets automatically:
Monthly cards reset at the start of each month.
Quarterly cards reset on January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st.
Yearly cards reset on the 1st of the month the card was created in (e.g. a card created on October 15th resets every October 1st).
If you top up a card's budget mid-period, the new amount applies immediately (once approved, if needed) and carries over into the next reset.
If a recurring card expires, delete it and create a new one — you can't renew an expired card.
Warning: Deleting a recurring card is permanent. You can't recover a deleted card or its transaction history.
Access: Above 500 euros, Spendesk's banking partner requires 3D Secure (3DS) confirmation for recurring payments, even if the merchant requested a 3DS exemption. Payments above this threshold are declined until you confirm via 3DS.
Multiple payments for one invoice
If your supplier bills you once for several payments made during the month (e.g. a marketplace that invoices you monthly for multiple individual charges), turn on Multiple payments for 1 invoice when you request the card. This gives you until the end of the month to upload the receipt before it's flagged as missing under your receipt policy.
Limitations:
Adding a receipt to one payment doesn't apply it to the other payments from the same supplier.
You can't group several payments into a single record on Spendesk.
Request a recurring card (desktop)
Click New Request > Make a purchase request > Request a Virtual Card > Recurring.
Select the recurrence (monthly, quarterly, or yearly).
Enter the price or budget of your recurring payment. If you don't know the exact amount, set a higher budget to cover upcoming spending.
If the payment is in another currency, add 2.99% to your budget to cover currency conversion.
Turn on Multiple payments for 1 invoice if your supplier bills you once for multiple charges.
Submit the request.
Wait for automatic or Admin approval, depending on your approval policy.
Once approved, open the card and copy its details (name, number, expiry date, CVV, billing address) into the merchant's payment form.
Request a recurring card (mobile)
Log in to the Spendesk mobile app.
From the Home page, tap + New Request.
Tap Request a virtual card.
Select Recurring.
Enter the amount, select the recurrence, and fill in the description and other mandatory fields.
Send your request.
Wait for approval, unless your approval policy is set to "no approval" or "sometimes," in which case it may be approved automatically.
View your subscription card details
If you've viewed the card's digits at least once, find it under Cards > Subscriptions.
If you haven't viewed the digits yet, find it under Requests.
If the card doesn't appear in either Requests or Cards > Subscriptions, it has been cancelled.
On mobile, find all active and paused subscriptions under My cards. Tap a subscription to see its details.
Edit a subscription's budget
Go to Cards > Subscriptions.
Click the subscription card you want to edit.
Click Manage subscription.
Increase or decrease the Amount per period.
Roles: Budget increases may require approval based on your company's spending policy. Budget decreases are applied automatically without approval.
On mobile, open the subscription's details page and tap Edit to change its budget.
Pause, reactivate, or delete a subscription card
Go to Cards > Subscriptions.
Click the subscription card.
Click Manage subscription.
Select Pause, Reactivate, or Delete.
Warning: Deleting a recurring card is permanent and can't be undone.
Troubleshooting
Symptom: A recurring payment is declined even though the merchant requested a 3DS exemption.
Cause: Spendesk's banking partner applies a 500 euro threshold on 3DS exemptions for recurring payments.
Resolution: Confirm the payment via 3DS in the Spendesk app when prompted. Payments above 500 euros always require this confirmation.
Symptom: A yearly or quarterly subscription card's budget didn't reset when expected.
Cause: The budget only resets on the card's fixed reset date. It can't be changed to an earlier date.
Resolution: Wait for the next scheduled reset, or delete the card and create a new one if you need the reset date to change.
Symptom: A payment failed because it exceeded the card's budget.
Cause: The charge is higher than the card's current budget or spending limit.
Resolution: You'll receive an email notification. Increase the card's budget; the merchant usually retries the charge within a few days without you needing to act.