Equals Money rewards businesses that know which currencies they spend in. £300/month covers up to 20 physical Mastercards and 50 virtual cards, and spend clears at zero FX markup across 21 pre-loaded currency wallets. The model falls apart the moment your spend turns unpredictable.
A finance manager at a London import firm runs through this every 15th of the month: the German supplier invoice lands in euros, the euro wallet is pre-loaded on Monday, and the next twelve invoices clear at zero FX markup, versus 2% on a competitor card.
When the spend pattern is messier, the advantage narrows. Equals Money charges 1.5% on any unloaded currency, the same as Soldo’s card FX fee, which makes ad hoc travel and one-off supplier payments dearer than they need to be. We compared both providers’ published fees in October 2026.
We verified fees, terms, and FCA register entries directly at equalsmoney.com for this review.
Our Verdict on the Equals Money Business Prepaid Card
Equals Money is a prepaid Mastercard with no credit line and no FSCS cover. You load funds, spend against the balance, and track every transaction across physical and virtual cards. Funds sit safeguarded under FCA e-money rules in segregated Tier 1 bank accounts.
Two FCA authorisations underpin Equals Money: Equals Money PLC as a Payment Institution (FRN 488396) and Equals Money International Ltd as an EMI (FRN 900493), both verified October 2026.
Two frameworks beats a single licence on resilience, but neither substitutes for FSCS bank-deposit protection. For balances you need FSCS-covered, route them through a current account (Tide via ClearBank is the option here) and only top up Equals Money when you’re ready to spend.
Who the Card Is Best For
Equals Money fits best when your international spend lands in predictable currencies. A UK importer paying a German supplier in euros every month pre-loads a euro wallet, transfers GBP at the platform rate, and spends with zero FX markup. At £300/month flat, the cost is predictable.
Freelancers and sole traders get no clear answer on eligibility. Equals Money’s website does not say whether sole traders qualify. Its published terms come in two sets, one for large corporates and a separate Retail set, and both require the customer to be based in the UK or outside the European Economic Area.
It works against you when spend is unpredictable. If your team books last-minute flights and pays in whatever currency the hotel charges, the 1.5% fee fires on every transaction and the pre-load model gives you nothing back. Soldo charges the same 1.5%, so Tide’s paid plans, with no fee on foreign card spend, suit that pattern better.
Equals Money Eligibility and Application
Who Can Apply
Equals Money’s customer terms set two conditions: you must be based in the UK or outside the European Economic Area, and you must supply the due diligence information it asks for before you use the account. Its website does not say which business types it accepts, sole traders included.
No published minimum turnover, and no credit line on the prepaid product. Identity verification (KYB/KYC) is the standard FCA e-money step. Decision in days, not weeks, in our reading of the application flow at equalsmoney.com.
What You Get on Approval
£300/month covers up to 20 physical Mastercards and 50 virtual cards on the Business plan, with additional physical cards at £10 one-off each thereafter. Platform seats are unlimited and free.
Only physical cardholders count against the plan cap. Your bookkeeper logging in to reconcile, or a finance manager pulling reports at month-end, costs nothing extra. That’s a structural advantage over per-seat competitors.
Business Plus (£420/month) raises the ceiling to 50 physical and 100 virtual cards, and that is where a flat fee starts to earn its keep. Soldo charges £27 a month plus VAT for three users and then £9 a user, each user including a card, so it reaches £420 at about 47 users. Below that you pay less with Soldo, and the Business plan at £300 for 20 cards never undercuts it inside its own card limit.
Multi-Currency Wallets and FX
How Equals Money FX Works
Pre-load the wallet or pay 1.5%, that’s the FX decision in one sentence. Equals Money holds balances in 21 currencies (GBP, EUR, USD, and 18 more). Load before you spend and the transaction clears at zero markup.
1.5% applies on any currency you haven’t pre-loaded. Internal wallet transfers are always free, so you can move balances around as plans shift.
This pays off on predictable currency mixes: a recurring EUR supplier invoice on the 1st, a quarterly USD SaaS renewal, sales staff heading to the same EU cities each quarter.
The finance director sets up a EUR wallet on Monday morning, transfers £5,000 at the Equals Money rate, and the supply chain team spends against that balance all month at zero FX cost. Open an Equals Money account
FX Rates Against Alternatives
We compared FX rates across the category: Equals Money 0%, Soldo 1.5%, Pleo Build 1.75%, Pleo Start 2.00%, Caxton 2.49% outside held currencies. On pre-loaded spend, nothing here matches Equals Money’s zero markup.
Off the pre-load path the gap closes. Equals Money’s 1.5% on unheld currencies matches Soldo’s 1.5% and beats Pleo Start (2.00%).
For unpredictable currency spend, Tide’s paid plans charge no fee on foreign card spend. Every provider’s published fee schedule was checked in October 2026 to confirm these figures.
Fees and Monthly Plan Costs
Monthly Fees and Card Allocations
What you are buying here is flat-fee economics, so the sums only work in your favour at scale. Business is £300/month for 20 physical + 50 virtual cards. Business Plus is £420/month for 50 physical + 100 virtual. Enterprise sits on custom pricing.
Soldo prices differently. Its Standard plan is £27/month +VAT for 3 users and 3 cards, and each extra user is £9 a month with a card included. Business Plus stays at £420 flat through every new hire up to 50 cards, which is the better buy only once the headcount is high enough to pass it.
For a team of three, Soldo Standard and Equals Money Business start at similar prices. Past that, only the Equals Money fee can be priced from a published tariff. Project headcount 12 months out and price against that figure, not today’s.
£10 one-off buys each additional physical card beyond the plan cap. Platform seats stay free and unlimited, so bookkeeper and finance manager logins don’t trigger extra monthly charges.
ATM Fees and Additional Charges
£1.50 per ATM withdrawal applies in the UK and internationally, plus any local ATM surcharges. Domestic card payments, internal wallet transfers, and extra platform user seats all carry no fee.
For site managers, market traders, or field sales staff drawing cash twice a week, that £1.50 compounds into roughly £150 a year per cardholder.
Caxton’s multi-currency business card also charges £1.50 a withdrawal; Tide charges £1 per withdrawal up to £500. If cash access is structural to how your team operates, this line shifts the comparison.
Card Features and Expense Management
Receipt Capture and Accounting Integration
Xero and Concur Expense are the two native integrations Equals Money lists, that’s the headline integration call. The iOS and Android apps support receipt capture: photograph the receipt at the point of purchase and it attaches to the transaction.
We checked equalsmoney.com in October 2026 and found no native integration with QuickBooks, Sage, or NetSuite. If your accountant runs QuickBooks, month-end means CSV export and manual import.
Pleo covers QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and Datev natively; Soldo covers Xero and NetSuite. Pick on the integration if your accounting stack is anything other than Xero or Concur.
Virtual Cards and Spend Controls
50 virtual cards on Business, 100 on Business Plus, enough to issue one per SaaS subscription, one per ad platform, one per online supplier. Per-card spend limits configure from the dashboard.
A Google Ads card with a £2,000 monthly cap can’t accidentally drain the wallet. Spend controls catch overspend after the fact, not before.
No pre-purchase approval gate, no budget enforcement before the card charges, no automated policy rules. Pleo or Payhawk are the right fit if your finance team needs to sign off a payment before the card processes it, a structurally different product.
Equals Money Customer Reviews
Trustpilot praise clusters on the multi-currency wallet model and FX-free spend on held currencies, the same headline strength we’d lead with for a buyer. Reviewed October 2026.
Critical reviews map onto the same two weaknesses we’ve flagged: the 1.5% fee surprising businesses that haven’t pre-loaded, and the limited accounting integrations frustrating QuickBooks and Sage shops.
If your business runs anything other than Xero, expect to see that integration friction reflected in the review feed too.
We have a full comparison to help you choose in our best business credit cards guide.
FAQs
Can sole traders get an Equals Money card?
Equals Money does not say. Neither its website nor its customer terms list which business types qualify. The terms do require you to be based in the UK or outside the European Economic Area, and to supply its due diligence information before you use the account.
How does the free FX work on Equals Money?
Pre-load the target currency wallet first. Spend from that wallet: no FX markup, free in all 21 supported currencies. Spend a currency you haven’t pre-loaded: 1.5% conversion fee applies. Internal wallet transfers are always free.
How many cards does the Equals Money Business plan include?
£300/month: up to 20 physical Mastercards and 50 virtual cards. Additional physical cards cost £10 one-off each. Unlimited platform users access the dashboard free.
Is Equals Money FSCS-protected?
No. Equals Money is not a bank. Funds are safeguarded under UK e-money regulations, held in segregated accounts at Tier 1 banks, ring-fenced from operational creditors. For FSCS protection up to £120,000, Tide (via ClearBank) or Zempler Bank are the alternatives.
What accounting software does Equals Money integrate with?
Xero and Concur Expense are the native integrations Equals Money lists (October 2026). No QuickBooks, Sage, or NetSuite integration is listed. CSV export available for manual import. For broader software coverage, Pleo or Soldo have more integrations.
What are the ATM fees on Equals Money?
£1.50 per withdrawal in the UK and internationally, plus any local ATM surcharges. Tide charges £1 per withdrawal up to £500 if a lower ATM fee matters for your team.
How does Equals Money compare to Soldo for a 10-person team?
Equals Money Business Plus: £420/month flat for 50 physical + 100 virtual cards. Soldo Standard: £27/month +VAT for 3 users and 3 cards, then £9 a user, so ten users is £90 a month plus VAT. Soldo is far cheaper at that size, and stronger on accounting integrations and expense approval workflows. Equals Money wins on flat pricing only once you are near its card ceiling.
Alternatives to Equals Money
How we reviewed Equals Money Business Prepaid Card
What we assessed. We evaluated Equals Money Business Prepaid Card on pricing, contract terms, features, and eligibility. These are the factors that matter most to UK small businesses considering this provider.
Data sources. Equals Money Business Prepaid Card’s pricing page, terms, and product docs were checked directly in October 2026. No comparison sites, no press releases, no affiliate material. FCA register cross-checked for regulatory status.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page at least monthly, and whenever a provider changes pricing, eligibility, or terms. The verification date on the page reflects the most recent full review. We have no affiliate relationship with Equals Money Business Prepaid Card, see our editorial policy.