Mesh Payments Review 2023

Pros

• Available to all business types
• $0 fees
• 1% cash back on card purchases
• Welcome offers worth up to $500
• Virtual and physical cards for employees

Cons

• Minimum $50K/month spending required
• Debit cards only, with no credit option
• Foreign transaction fees

What Is Mesh Payments?

Mesh Payments is an all-in-one spend management platform featuring physical and virtual debit corporate cards for employees.

In addition to customizable spend controls and a consistent cashback rate, Mesh includes automations designed to save time and money. You’ll also find global travel management tools, including AI-enabled spend management, multicurrency options, and expense reporting.

Note: Mesh Payments is a corporate debit card, not a business credit card. If you’re looking for a credit card instead, our list of the best business credit cards will help you find the right offer.

Is Mesh the financial technology you’ve been looking for? What rewards can you earn when you use your Mesh card? And what type of company is Mesh best suited for?

This Mesh Payments review will answer these questions and more.

Video: What Are Corporate Credit Cards?

Mesh offers a corporate card to help small businesses tie together all their financials.

Not sure what a corporate card really is — or whether you need one for your small business? Merchant Maverick’s CEO covers the basics in this video.

Mesh Payments Rewards & Perks

Mesh faces some stiff competition in both the corporate card and expense-management fields.

Both those areas are increasingly competitive, with cash-rich fintech newcomers like Brex and Ramp offering eye-popping cash back rewards of up to 8x on all business spending.

Mesh Payments can’t match those top cash back rates, but gives its cardholders a welcome 1% back on all purchases made using the Mesh Visa debit card. Keep in mind that it’s very unusual to see a debit card with cashback rewards at all.

It’s worth noting that Mesh says its users typically realize a 3% annual payment savings when they switch to Mesh. Users also reportedly save the equivalent of seven days each month on monthly accounting tasks, thanks to Mesh’s expense controls, automations, and integrations.

Here is an overview of the rewards Mesh delivers:

• Cash Back: You’ll earn 1% cash back rewards on all purchases made with your company’s Mesh debit cards. Redeeming Mesh rewards is simple. They post automatically to your account.
• Welcome Offers: You’ll get $200 when you spend $3,000 on your Mesh card and an additional $300 when you link a marketing or cloud budget to Mesh within the first two months. That’s a potential total of $500.
• Partner Rewards: Access to $100K in special discounts and offers from Mesh partners. These include 20% off airport lounge access through Priority Pass, 30% off a 6-month subscription to QuickBooks, and a $5,000 credit with Amazon Web Services.
• Real-Time Insights: When you pay with your Mesh card, you’ll be alerted to savings opportunities that can reduce expenses.

Mesh Payments Pricing & Fees

Mesh cards are prepaid or debit cards, allowing you to access funds loaded or deposited to your balance. Funds are FDIC-insured by Metropolitan Commercial Bank and do not accrue any interest.

When I located the Mesh card’s fee schedule, I saw almost nothing but zeros. Mesh charges no fees for obtaining and activating cards, no monthly usage fees, no fees for adding money via ACH or wire transfer, and no fees added to purchases.

In addition, Mesh Payment’s built-in suite of tools for expense management and spend control is available for free.

If your business involves significant foreign travel, be aware that Mesh charges foreign transaction fees but does not disclose the fees upfront. We note that you’ll be charged a foreign transaction fee in addition to a currency conversion rate. That could make Mesh an expensive payment option overseas.

Foreign transaction fees aside, Mesh is a spend-management platform that charges $0 fees for the use of its corporate card and financial management tools. Mesh’s true $0 fees puts it in a very small group of corporate card providers.

Mesh Payments Eligibility Requirements

Mesh Payments lists one simple eligibility requirement: Only US-based businesses and merchants are eligible to apply. Other than that, I was not able to find any restrictions. Although Mesh may ask for your Social Security number as part of the application, it’s used only for identification purposes.

When I requested a Mesh demo by entering my contact information on the website, I received a call from a friendly and knowledgeable Mesh rep early the next business day.

She asked me several general screening questions about my company’s structure and spending habits and then informed me that because Mesh wants to remain completely free to users, it’s available only to companies that plan to spend a minimum of $50,000-$100,000/month on the Mesh card. That’s because Mesh makes its money off interchange fees, charging merchants a small percentage of every sale made using a Mesh card.

Although the Mesh rep let me know that my company would not be eligible for a Mesh account, she offered suggestions for rival cards that would be a good fit — an unexpected, classy, and helpful move.

Mesh Payments Features

Mesh holds its own against its competitors, too, as far as features go. Take a look at this overview:

For starters, a Mesh payment account comes with unlimited physical and virtual Visa debit cards for you and your employees. You can also assign a single Mesh card to each vendor you work with.

Admins can set custom limits on each card and see continuous payment insights that eliminate redundancies and highlight savings opportunities. You can approve, track, and manage corporate payments in real-time, via email, text, or Slack alerts. Mesh helps simplify expense reporting and eliminates the need for reimbursements.

Note that while Mesh Payments gives users a prepaid debit card, Mesh is not a bank. Funds deposited with Mesh are FDIC-insured by Metropolitan Commercial Bank. You can access the funds in your Mesh balance by using your card or virtual card, by ACH debit using an account number assigned to you, or by writing a pre-funded check obtained from Mesh itself.

Funds in your account do not expire, although the cards you are issued will have an expiration date just like any other credit or debit card.

The maximum total deposit for Mesh accounts is $10 million, with a daily purchase maximum of $10 million. You can load up to $20,000 each day to a Mesh card. ACH and wire transfers are limited to $10 million per day. Keep in mind that Mesh accounts are capped at $10 million total at any given time.

Mesh Payments Customer Service

Mesh Payments offers a satisfying range of support options, including 24/7 phone support and a guaranteed response to ticket submissions within 24 hours. A search of reviews from Mesh users did not uncover any widespread dissatisfaction with Mesh customer support.

In fact, Mesh users active on Capterra’s review site give Mesh 4.8/5 stars in the customer service category. On the Software Advice website, Mesh customer service earned 5/5 stars.

Here’s how you can access Mesh Payments support:

Mesh Payments Reviews

I searched for Mesh card user reviews and found mostly positive comments online. Of course, it’s impossible to please everyone, all the time, but in the negative reviews I saw, I spotted no patterns of complaints that raised serious red flags for me.

We decided to take a look at what Mesh reviews can tell us, including both the good and the bad. We visited three user review sites, the Google Play Store, and the Apple App Store to look for real Mesh users’ comments.

Here’s what we found:

Negative Mesh Payments Reviews & Complaints

• Not available to international companies
• Integrations can take time to implement
• Slight learning curve in using the platform
• Security measures can seem cumbersome

Positive Mesh Payments Reviews

• The digital platform delivers real-time savings
• Easy to create cards for one-time payments and subscriptions
• Excellent personalized customer service
• Useful expense management tools
• Accounting integrations work well

Is Mesh Payments Safe?

Mesh uses 256-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect users’ data. Information is stored in secured data centers that use state-of-the-art electronic surveillance, tokenization, and multi-factor access control systems.

Additionally, Mesh products comply with global data protection and privacy laws, including the GDPR. Mesh has received a SOC 2 Type II report indicating that it has the appropriate controls to mitigate security and confidentiality risks. These include external auditing, PCI compliance as a Level 1 Service Provider, and WAF and DDoS protections.

Final Verdict: Is Mesh Payments Worth It?

Mesh Payments is a young company that seems responsive to its customers’ needs and complaints. Based on Mesh’s replies to user reviews, the company is still working to beef up its offerings and become more useful. That’s always a good sign.

Overall, we think Mesh is a solid expense management platform that deserves a closer look if you’re in the market for spend-management tools combined with a corporate card that lets you monitor and manage employee spending.

Mesh is one of the few corporate debit cards we’ve run across. (Bento is another, and it’s available to smaller companies than the ones Mesh Payments targets).

While it’s true that Mesh offers a lower cashback rate than some other corporate cards, the fact that you see any cashback rewards on a debit card is impressive. Mesh’s 1% reward rate is decent, especially because Mesh encourages you to use the card to pay for regular recurring expenses like software subscriptions.

If you’re a US-based business with spending that comes in at or higher than Mesh’s target of $50,000/month, you’ll find a lot to like here. The expense and spend management tools are impressive, the platform is easy to use, and some innovative solutions like the Plug & Pay card could ease your management headaches significantly.

Of course, we never recommend a corporate card without also suggesting you take steps to set strong policies for card usage. Check out our suggestions for creating a corporate card policy before you hand out your new corporate cards.

Mesh Payments & Mesh Credit Card FAQs

Featured Free Corporate Card

Ramp	Apply Now Read our Review

Ramp offers a free corporate card for virtually any business. Start earning rewards with your corporate spending today. Get your free card.

Featured Free Corporate Card

Ramp	Apply Now Read our Review

Ramp offers a free corporate card for virtually any business. Start earning rewards with your corporate spending today. Get your free card.

Sources