What is the difference between consumer, commercial and corporate cards?

The difference

“Standard” is commonly used as shorthand for a consumer card. “Commercial”, “corporate” and “business” describe card products issued for company expenditure.

Consumer cards

Consumer credit and debit cards issued primarily for an individual’s personal spending.

Commercial and corporate cards

Business, commercial, corporate and purchasing cards issued for work-related spending. The card can still carry an employee’s name.

Zahlo uses the terms consumer and commercial/corporate in its pricing because they describe the underlying card category more directly.

How Zahlo identifies the card type

When a payment is processed, the issuer and card network provide information about the card product and issuing region. Zahlo uses that information to place the transaction in the relevant pricing category.

1. The customer presents a card.The payment can take place online or in person.
2. The payment network supplies its category.The network data identifies the card product and issuing region.
3. Zahlo applies the matching rate.The merchant does not need to classify the card manually.

A cardholder’s job title, company name or reason for buying can provide context, but none of those details overrides the category supplied by the network.

When business cards are commonly used

These situations often involve a commercial or corporate card, although the network classification remains the final source of truth:

• A company purchases software, inventory, services or equipment.
• A sole trader pays for supplies or day-to-day business costs.
• An employee books business travel or pays for a corporate activity.
• A business customer pays an invoice or makes a B2B purchase.

Why the payment rate can differ

Network and interchange costs can vary by card product and issuing region. That is why EEA and UK businesses may see different rates for consumer cards and commercial or corporate cards.

Other card schemes and local wallets can have their own pricing category. Zahlo applies the relevant category automatically from the payment data.

Which countries are in the EEA?

The European Economic Area includes the EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

The United Kingdom and Switzerland are European non-EEA markets and appear separately in Zahlo’s pricing.