Brex Corporate Card Review

Pros

• A lucrative and flexible rewards scheme
• Linked cash account with high APY
• Valuable partner discounts
• No personal guarantee or credit check

Cons

• Limited to C-corp, S-corp, LLC, and LLPs with equity investors, $1 million/year in revenue, or 50+ employees
• Top rewards require an exclusivity agreement and daily repayments
• Daily repayments required for most new users

What Is The Brex Corporate Card?

Brex is a fintech company offering a full suite of financial services, including corporate credit cards, expense management software, bill payments, spend management, and select business banking services to corporate clients.

As for the Brex credit card, it delivers impressive rewards, with up to 8x points on certain purchase categories.

Note that Brex’s target audience is venture-backed startups and mid-market companies rather than smaller private businesses, who will be more likely to qualify for other top business credit cards on the market.

However, if you qualify, the Brex corporate card can help you streamline your finances while offering some very high rewards rates. We’re awarding the card an excellent 4.8/5 overall score.

How Does Brex Work?

Like most of the best corporate credit cards, Brex works like a charge card rather than a traditional business credit card. That means you won’t be able to carry a balance from month to month.

Brex offers some eye-popping rewards, returning up to 8x on certain purchases. However, if you want to access that top rate, you’ll need to pay off your balance daily and make Brex your exclusive corporate card.

Along with the credit card, Brex now offers a complete finance-management platform that helps you and your employees make purchases, track expenses, and access smart budgeting tools. Herein, we’ll be covering Brex’s spend management tools, bill payment, employee cards, and business software integrations.

Brex also offers a linked cash management account that provides basic business banking services. A Brex business account (formerly called Brex Cash) offers unlimited deposits, payments, and transfers, as well as an attractive APY, without restricting access to funds. Our Brex business account review has further details.

Brex Credit Card Rewards & Perks

Brex corporate cards come with some truly impressive points-earning potential in several spending categories. In fact, the rates are among the highest available in the crowded field of corporate cards, with no cap on earnings. Plus, Brex points never expire. Accordingly, we gave BRex a perfect 5/5 rating in this category.

We’ll start with the standard rewards rate before exploring how to increase the rates you earn.

• 7x points per $1 on ridesharing and taxis
• 4x points on trip arrangements booked via Brex Travel
• 3x points on restaurant purchases
• 3x points on eligible Apple purchases made through the Brex rewards portal
• 2x points on recurring software subscriptions
• 1x points on everything else

You can earn slightly higher rewards rates if you use Brex exclusively for corporate spending and qualify for the Brex Exclusive rewards program. It’s open to users in the following categories:

• Brex Exclusive Daily Payments Rewards: You’ll receive a 1x points bonus on certain spend categories when you make daily payments from a linked Brex business bank account, bringing your top rewards tier to 8x.
• Brex Exclusive Life Science Rewards: Life science companies earn increased points on lab supplies and life science conference tickets rather than recurring software, rideshares, and restaurants.
• Brex Exclusive Custom Rewards: Companies that meet minimum spending requirements (and that have 50+ Brex card users) can earn additional flat-rate rewards. You’ll need to speak with a Brex rep to learn more about qualifications and rewards.

How To Redeem Brex Points

The Brex points you earn never expire, and they can be redeemed only by an account or card administrator. Points can be used for gift cards (Amazon.com or prepaid Mastercard) or travel accommodations booked through Brex Travel.

You can also transfer your points to partner airlines, receive a statement credit, or arrange to have crypto (Bitcoin or Ethereum) payments sent to an external wallet. If you use a Brex business account, you can redeem points for cash back into your account.

Furthermore, Brex customers can receive mental health benefits through Spring Health mental healthcare, organize team offsite meetings and events with Brex partners,  or receive executive coaching in exchange for Brex points.

Brex points rewards are uncapped, and the multipliers are not cut off or reduced after you hit any spending or rewards limits.

Brex Partner Perks

All Brex customers can take advantage of exclusive signup offers from various partners worth more than $180,000. Here are some examples:

• Amazon Web Services: $5,000 credit
• QuickBooks: Get 30% off your first 12 months of QuickBooks
• UPS: Save up to 50% on every shipment
• Gusto: Get 50% off any annual subscription plan for the first year
• Slack: 25% off 12 months of eligible Slack paid plans
• Vouch: Save up to 25% on business insurance and earn 10,000 Brex Points
• Freshworks: $10,000 credits on Freshworks suite of products

Brex Empower

Empower is a financial software platform within Brex that includes advanced budgeting tools, receipt integration, expense comment fields, customizable accounting fields, global currency support, and more.

Brex Empower is available to all Brex business accounts at no added cost.

Brex Finance Tools

Brex users also gain access to a variety of tools, which we’ll cover in-depth in the Brex Features section below. In addition to corporate cards, Brex supports bill payment, accounting, and spend management. These tools and features are one of Brex’s calling cards and deliver significant value to Brex cardholders.

Brex Pricing & Fees

We’re giving Brex a perfect score in this category. A standard Brex account is free to use, with no annual or account fees, global ACH or wire transfer fees, fees for employee cards, or foreign transaction fees.

Along with its free plan, Brex now offers two paid service tiers. For $12/user/month, Brex Premium offers everything you get with a free account along with the following:

• Custom expense policies and approvals
• In-app travel booking and management
• Live Budgets with real-time tracking
• Custom procurement workflows
• Custom, automated HRIS and advanced accounting integrations
• Dedicated support for admins

Brex also offers Brex Enterprise, pricing for which is quote-based. Brex Enterprise offers with following exclusive features:

• Local cards and billing in 50+ countries
• Locally funded payments in 40+ countries
• Unlimited policy customization
• Advanced roles and permissions
• Custom compliance and audit reports
• Top-tier onboarding and support

Eligibility Requirements

Brex’s eligibility requirements are a bit complicated and worth unpacking. Brex has recently sharpened its focus on equity-backed tech startups and no longer serves smaller businesses.

For starters, you’ll need US incorporation documentation, business registration, EIN, and billing address. If you live outside the US but do business here, you may be eligible if you have a valid international residential address.

All businesses that want to use Brex must have a US bank account or apply to use a Brex business banking account. Be aware that Brex has a list of prohibited activities and businesses.

Successful applicants will meet at least one (not all) of the following criteria:

• You’ve received equity investment of any amount from an accelerator, angel investor, VC, or web3 token
• You have $1 million or more in annual revenue
• You have 50+ employees

Tech startups that are on track to meet those requirements may be accepted if they are referred by a current Brex customer or partner. Because of this complexity, be aware that Brex can take up to 15 business days to review your application and reach a decision.

What’s more, Brex is available only to C-corp, S-corp, LLC, or LLP corporations. As Brex underwrites with Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) and not Social Security numbers, consumers and other unregistered businesses are not eligible. Sole proprietorships are not eligible even if they have a valid EIN.

Although Brex requires its clients to operate in the US, provide services and products to US customers, or employ/contract with or have plans to employ/contract with US personnel, Brex now offers support and incentives to foreign-based companies interested in becoming incorporated in the US. The support comes via a partnership with Firstbase and delivers Brex Rewards points.

According to Brex, when assessing your company for eligibility, “Brex analyzes a company’s business model, source of funds, spending patterns, and other areas that may pose a higher risk to Brex and our partners.”

Those making daily payments will have a credit limit calculated at 100% of their Brex account balance, with connected bank accounts not entering the consideration.

Maverick Tip: You can apply to make monthly repayments rather than daily repayments.

However, to qualify, you’ll need to meet additional requirements:

• Startups must have a minimum of $50K in a US bank account unless you’re referred by “certain partners” of Brex
• Mid-market and enterprise companies must earn $400K/month in revenue

Two final notes on eligibility for the Brex credit card: Brex does not check your personal credit score when you apply for an account, and it won’t require that you sign a personal guarantee.

Brex Features

Brex is a full financial stack that aims to deliver an all-in-one solution for startups and growing businesses. Brex’s feature set is built around its corporate card and cash management account products. These tools enable businesses to track where and how employees are spending money more easily.

Let’s take a deeper look at some additional features Brex bundles in:

• Brex Instant Payouts: Brex users who also sell on Amazon may be able to use the Instant Payouts option to receive revenue from Amazon instantly instead of waiting out Amazon’s payout period. A 1.5% fee will apply to each payout.
• eCommerce Connections: Connect your Brex account to your eCommerce sales platform or POS. Supported platforms include Amazon, BigCommerce, Braintree, PayPal, Shopify, Square, Stripe, Venmo, Wix, and Xoom.
• Flexible Credit Limit: Your company’s credit limit for the Brex Card is flexible and linked to the amount of money in your Brex business account plus external accounts. That means your credit limit will fluctuate automatically as your business grows. It also depends on your repayment rate: Pay daily, and your Brex card limit can be up to 100% of your balance.
• Receipt Matching: Upload receipts to the Brex mobile app, and they will be automatically matched to your company’s statement. Receipts can also be submitted via text and email.
• Fraud Coverage & Alerts: Brex keeps your account secure with 24/7 fraud monitoring.
• Travel Perks: Brex users have access to Brex Travel, a portal powered by TravelBank that uses real-time data to predict travel costs and build travel budgets. The app features curated travel bookings with special corporate rates, a rewards program that incentivizes cost-effective options, and 24/7 support. Brex also offers a travel concierge service 24/7.
• Software Integrations: Make reconciliation easier and avoid accounting errors when you integrate accounting tools with your Brex account. With thousands of available integrations, you’ll find many of your favorites, including QuickBooks, ADP, Xero, NetSuite, Expensify, Concur, Gusto, Sage Intacct, SAP Concur, Oracle Netsuite, Rippling, Zoom, and many more.
• Pay Invoices Automatically: Forward bills and invoices to Brex via email to pay vendors without additional data entry.
• Spend Controls: Set custom expense policies and manage employee spending with approvals for out-of-policy spending and limit increases, and alerts for unusual spending, duplicate subscriptions, or price increases.

Finally, you can add money to your Brex business account via a number of different methods. Let’s take a look at the typical processing times for each method:

Brex’s Other Business Services

Brex is a corporate card and so much more. Especially if you use Brex Empower, you will have access to what’s essentially a complete financial services provider. Here are some functions you won’t want to miss.

Brex Customer Service

After studying various review websites for user experiences, we can say that Brex generally has well-received customer service. In fact, several users suggest that Brex’s customer service is better than that of traditional banks.

Users appreciate Brex for having customer service that is quick, friendly, and helpful. A typical comment about Brex customer service is, “They listen to what you say” and even make adjustments to products and features.

Brex is responsive across its social media channels, including Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Brex Reviews

Brex scores highly across user reviews. Brex receives an average of 4.7/5 stars (based on 1,237 reviews) on G2 and 4.5/5 stars (based on 131 reviews) on Capterra.

In a previous Brex review, we noted a bit of a misstep when looking at the Brex mobile app. However, users’ ratings have shown improvement, with an average of 4.5/5 stars (based on 1,100+ reviews) on the Google Play Store and 4.9/5 stars (based on 4,200+ reviews) on the Apple App Store.

Is Brex Safe?

Brex’s corporate card operates on the Visa card network, issued by Emigrant Bank, Member FDIC. That means customers will have access to all the security features available from the bank and the Visa network, including zero liability and ID theft protection to help minimize fraud.

Brex also protects users with fraud monitoring and protection; secure browsing, authorization, and authentication; data privacy; and full PCI-DSS certifications where available. These factors mean that Brex should be generally safe to work with.

How Does Brex Compare To Other Cards?

Brex is a solid corporate card with above-average rewards, free cards for employees, valuable partner perks, and strong tools for expense tracking and spending controls. But is Brex the best corporate card for your business?

To help you answer that question, let’s see how Brex stacks up against a couple of other strong contenders, Ramp and Divvy.

The table above gives you an overview. Open the links below for more information about some key comparisons.

Final Verdict: Is Brex Worth It?

Between its cash management account and its corporate card, Brex offers solid expense tracking and receipt matching tools, ultimately helping businesses understand where and how money is spent. You can also earn rewards at rates that dwarf those of most business credit cards.

Whether Brex is worth it to your business will depend on individual factors. That said, Brex is a great option for qualifying corporations, LLCs, and LLPs seeking a corporate card, a cash management account, or both.

New businesses that don’t yet meet Brex’s eligibility benchmarks might instead consider the best business credit cards for startups to finance business purchases.

Brex Credit Card FAQs

Corporate Card Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing business credit cards and corporate cards since 2018. Our writers have evaluated over sixty different business card products. In each corporate card review, we evaluate rewards and perks, rates and fees, features, eligibility requirements, customer service, and user reviews. Read more about how we rate corporate cards.

Note: We use a different credit card rating methodology to evaluate traditional business credit cards, as they often differ from corporate cards in benefits, qualifications, and use cases.

When comparing corporate cards, we consider many data points, including the specifics of cash back and spending rewards, the presence of annual fees, the breadth and flexibility of reward redemption options, revenue and time in business qualifications, credit score requirements, and extra perks. Our lists of the best corporate cards include only those we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points and often share qualities such as widespread availability, low fees, competitive rewards, and reasonable revenue, cash-on-hand, and time in business requirements.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the corporate cards included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Brex	Apply Now

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Brex for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Brex	Apply Now

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Brex for yourself.