Skip to main content
Budget cards are cards linked to a budget. Spend is controlled by the budget configuration and available balance. This page explains how to combine budgets and budget cards into a reliable user experience.

​
Important constraints

  • One budget per BIN
  • One BIN per budget
This means budgets are tightly coupled to a specific card program (BIN). Design your product model accordingly.

​
When to use budget cards

Budget cards are a good fit when:
  • you want multiple cards sharing a single balance
  • you want spend separation per team/purpose without creating separate customers

​
Funding model (how money moves)

Budget cards cannot be topped up or withdrawn from directly. Instead:
  • you fund the budget (top up the budget balance)
  • when the cardholder spends, funds are debited from the budget balance

​
Authorization model (approve / decline)

When a transaction occurs, BFinance sends an authorization request to your authorization endpoint (partner-managed authorization). Your system returns approve or decline. If approved, the spend is debited from the linked budget balance. See:

​
What can block budget card spend

Most declines fall into a few categories:
  • the budget balance is not enough
  • program restrictions (country/MCC/currency/merchant)
  • velocity limits (spend limits)
  • the card is frozen/blocked/expired/deleted

​
Managing a budget card

Budget cards support the same lifecycle actions as other cards:
  • set PIN
  • freeze/unfreeze/delete
  • view sensitive data (when needed)
  • set limits
“Top up” and “withdraw” actions apply to funding models where the card has a managed stored balance. Budget cards use the budget balance instead.
For exact request parameters, use the Cards API reference.