Employee cards in Belgium: Pleo, Revolut or Qonto?

Giving your staff a payment card removes out-of-pocket advances and paper expense reports. In Belgium, three names come up: Pleo, Revolut Business and Qonto. The catch is that they are not in the same category: one manages spending, the others are business accounts. Here is how to decide for an SME, with the Belgian detail that matters: VAT, ONSS and IBAN.

Do you need an employee card or a full business account?

It depends on your need. If you only want to hand out cards and automate expense reports, Pleo is enough. If you want a real business account with an IBAN and incoming payments, Revolut Business or Qonto fit better.

Pleo is defined as an expense management platform: it provides physical and virtual Mastercard cards to your staff, and tops up from your existing business account. It is not a bank. You keep your Belgian account and Pleo layers on top for the cards and receipts. Revolut Business and Qonto, by contrast, are full business accounts: they replace (or duplicate) your bank, with an IBAN, transfers and built-in cards.

In practice, an eight-person SME that keeps its long-standing Belgian bank does not want to switch just to hand out cards. It adds Pleo and keeps collecting on its Belgian IBAN. A young company with no established bank, on the other hand, can centralise everything on Revolut Business or Qonto. What this means for you: the first question is not "which card?" but "do I want to change accounts?".

How do Pleo, Revolut Business and Qonto compare?

All three give cards to your employees and capture receipts, but their nature differs. Pleo is an expense management layer; Revolut Business and Qonto are business accounts that include that function.

In short: Pleo wins if you keep your Belgian bank and just want clean cards and expense reports; Revolut Business wins on the Belgian IBAN and pricing flexibility; Qonto offers a rich business account but with a French IBAN to live with.

Do these cards handle VAT and expense reports in Belgium?

Yes for receipt capture, with a Belgian nuance on payments to the administration. All three let the employee photograph the receipt at the moment of payment and attach it to the transaction. That saves real time at the accounting close.

The friction point is the IBAN. Paying VAT to the SPF Finances or contributions to the ONSS relies on a structured communication recognised by Belgian systems. With Qonto's French IBAN, these domestic transfers flow less naturally, which is a limit if you make it your main account. Revolut Business lifted that friction with its Belgian IBANs since 2025. Pleo stays out of this debate: it is not used to pay VAT, it is used to equip employees, and your filings still leave from your Belgian account.

Does an expense paid by an employee card stay deductible?

Yes, as long as it is professional and backed by a kept receipt. Paying by company card creates no special right: deductibility follows the VAT Code. Restaurant costs stay non-deductible for VAT, car costs are capped, and a receipt is still required. These cards make proof easier; they do not change the tax rule.

Can an employee use the card for private purchases?

No, unless you want a problem. A private expense settled on the company card is not deductible, and if the employer covers it, it becomes a taxable benefit in kind for the employee. Watch the detail: better a written policy, one card per person and a cap, than sorting mixed expenses after the fact.

How much does it really cost to equip a team?

The cost depends on the number of cards and the solution. Pleo offers a free plan capped at 3 users and 3 cards, then paid tiers from around 45 EUR per month, up to around 99 EUR per month for the advanced tier at publication. Revolut Business runs from a free plan to packages around 90 EUR per month depending on features. Qonto starts around 9 EUR per month excluding VAT, with premium cards charged on top.

Always think in net cost. The subscription for an expense tool is a deductible business expense, like a business card fee. A 45 EUR monthly plan therefore costs less than a real 45 EUR after corporate tax.

In practice, for five staff who run regular expenses, Pleo's free plan is quickly exceeded (3 cards), and you move to a paid tier. At that point the real comparison is no longer the sticker price but the admin time saved: if the tool removes two hours of data entry per week from your in-house accountant, the subscription pays for itself.

Which solution fits your SME by size?

The right choice mostly depends on the number of card holders and your attachment to your Belgian bank. Below three cards, Pleo's free plan already covers a micro-structure. Between three and twenty staff, the trade-off is between paid Pleo (if you keep your bank) and Revolut Business (if you want an all-in-one Belgian business account). Above that, the depth of spending rules and approvals becomes the deciding factor.

Concretely: a four-person practice that keeps its KBC or BNP Paribas Fortis account adds Pleo to hand out cards without changing bank. A ten-person young company with no established bank centralises everything on Revolut Business and benefits from the Belgian IBAN. A structure that invoices heavily abroad and lives in the Qonto ecosystem will accept the French IBAN knowingly. None of these cards is a real credit card: they are debit or prepaid cards.

FAQ

Above you will find detailed answers to the most common employer questions in Belgium: the difference between Pleo and a business account, deductibility of card expenses, private use and benefit in kind, Belgian IBAN, Pleo pricing, the nature of the cards and per-employee limits.