Built for Better Business Banking: How we designed the OakNorth Visa debit card 

By Daria Saulenko, Senior Product Manager, Business Banking at OakNorth

Daria works on creating products that empower businesses to spend wisely and effortlessly, with seamless card experiences and integrated financial tools.

Managing business expenses shouldn’t slow you down 

From onboarding new team members to paying international suppliers, business expenses are a daily reality, but too often, the tools to manage them feel stuck in the past. 

We heard it directly from customers: they were battling red tape, hidden fees, slow card issuance, and admin overload. Whether reconciling spend at month-end or trying to issue a card to a new hire, the process felt anything but efficient. 

That’s why we launched the OakNorth Visa debit card – to give growing businesses a faster, more flexible way to manage spending, without the complexity.  

What we kept hearing 

Traditional business cards weren’t keeping pace with how companies actually operate. 

High street bank cards often involved long waits, restrictive policies, and fees that added up fast, especially for international spend. Issuing a new card could take days, if not weeks. And as teams grew, finance admins were left juggling reimbursements, chasing receipts, and working around inflexible limits. 

A fast-moving business can’t afford slow-moving tools.  

What we set out to build 

We wanted to build a solution that reflects how modern high-growth business teams spend: 

• Remote and global-ready – Support spend across multiple currencies and locations 

• Built for scale – Issue team cards, easily no need to call or fill out forms  

• Admin-friendly – Help finance teams stay in control without chasing data 

• Secure by design – Put the right safeguards in place, without slowing things down 

We looked closely at how customers were managing everything from software subscriptions to travel and supplier payments, and identified where the friction was building. 

Then we asked: how do we remove it? 

 What makes the OakNorth Visa debit card different 

We launched a corporate card that’s fast, free and flexible, backed by tools that give teams autonomy and finance teams control. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Instant control, zero fees abroad
  Use your card in 40+ countries with no foreign transaction fees. Need to cancel or freeze a card? Do it instantly in-app: no calls, no delays. 

• Free cards, delivered fast
  Issue physical cards for free, delivered in 3–5 working days. No more shared company cards or manual expense claims. 

• High card limits, built for business
  Whether you’re paying large invoices or managing high monthly spend, our cards support flexible limits that scale with you. 

• Real-time insights, zero noise
  Get transaction alerts as they happen, including smart prompts when payments fail, so your team isn’t left guessing. 

• Accounting that saves hours
  Daily syncing into Xero, Sage and soon into NetSuite makes reconciliation easier. You’ll spend less time on reconciliations and more time focused on what matters. 

This isn’t a consumer card retrofitted for business; it’s designed from the ground up for how ambitious companies operate.  

What it’s already unlocking 

Since launch, customers have used the card for everything from SaaS subscriptions to international supplier payments. It’s helped them: 

• Cut hours of admin around team expenses 

• Avoid surprise fees when spending abroad 

• Gain faster, clearer visibility into spend 

• Pay high-value business expenses without being wrongfully flagged or blocked 

It’s another step in our mission to make business banking more responsive, and more useful, to the way scaling companies actually work. 

What’s next 

We’re just getting started. 

• A new web-based card issuance flow is in development, giving admins even more control over their employees’ card limits and permissions. 

Because great banking should flex with your business, not get in the way. 

Already with OakNorth? Log in order to order your card.  

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