For many companies, travel expenses are one of the most frustrating budget lines. Employees land in Berlin or Dubai, start paying for taxis and hotel deposits with their personal cards, and weeks later the finance team is still chasing missing receipts. Corporate travel cards and traditional expense reports have their own problems too, from overspending to slow approvals. In that gap, platforms like Soldo have positioned themselves as a modern way to control business spending on the road. But is Soldo actually a good solution for travel spending, and which types of travelers benefit most?
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What Soldo Is – And What It Is Not
Soldo is a spend management platform built around prepaid Mastercard cards for employees and teams. It is designed for businesses rather than individual holidaymakers. You connect Soldo to an existing company bank account, move money into a central wallet, then distribute funds onto physical or virtual cards that your staff use for travel, online purchases, fuel, and other expenses. The software side lets finance teams set limits, create policies, and see transactions in real time, with receipt capture in the mobile app.
That distinction matters for travel: Soldo is not a consumer travel card like a Wise card or a Revolut personal account, and it is not a fully fledged bank account. Companies still need a traditional business bank relationship for payroll, incoming revenue, and reserves. Soldo sits as a layer on top of that bank, focused specifically on controlling and tracking spending, including when staff are on the road. For a US startup sending staff to client meetings in London, or an Italian marketing agency flying a team to a trade show in Barcelona, Soldo can act as the primary tool for day-to-day travel expenses.
From a traveler’s perspective, a Soldo card behaves a lot like any other Mastercard debit card: you tap to pay at a cafe in Lisbon, swipe at a hotel in Chicago, or use chip-and-PIN in a Paris taxi. Behind the scenes, though, funds are coming from a prepaid balance allocated by the company rather than a bank account or credit facility in the employee’s name. That difference is what enables stronger controls, but it also means there are limits, especially if you are hoping to earn loyalty points or tap into bundled travel insurance.
Because Soldo is focused on businesses, availability is limited to companies registered in supported regions such as the UK and much of the European Economic Area. It is not intended for US-registered small businesses yet, nor for digital nomads simply trying to reduce foreign transaction fees on personal travel. Before you invest time integrating it into your travel policy, you will want to confirm that your company’s jurisdiction and legal form are eligible.
How Soldo Works When You Travel Abroad
Soldo issues prepaid Mastercard cards in three base currencies: GBP, EUR and USD. A UK company might give its staff GBP cards, while an Italian firm might choose EUR. When employees use a Soldo card abroad in a different currency, the transaction is converted at the Mastercard exchange rate, plus Soldo’s FX markup for that region, which is typically around 1.5 percent above the network rate for Euro-denominated business accounts. That is competitive with many traditional business debit cards but slightly higher than the most aggressive “zero markup” consumer fintech travel cards.
In practical terms, imagine a sales manager from a London tech company visiting New York. They hold a GBP Soldo card and pay a 100 USD restaurant bill in Manhattan. Mastercard converts the 100 USD into GBP at the day’s interbank rate, and Soldo adds its FX fee. If the underlying interbank rate would have produced a 78.50 GBP charge, the final amount debited to the company wallet might be closer to 79.70 GBP. Over the course of a three-day trip with several meals, taxis and a hotel incidentals charge, that spread is noticeable but still modest compared with the 2.75 to 3 percent foreign transaction fees common with many business bank cards.
Soldo cards can be used at millions of Mastercard acceptance points worldwide, including shops, hotels, restaurants and car rental agencies, as well as more than a million ATMs for cash withdrawals. For example, a project manager landing in Warsaw can tap their Soldo card for the airport train, book a local co-working space, and settle the hotel bill without touching personal funds. Cash withdrawals do work, although companies often discourage this because ATM usage tends to attract both an FX markup and an additional fee, and can make reconciliation trickier.
Because all spending flows back into the Soldo web dashboard, finance teams can see travel transactions almost as soon as they happen. If an employee in Amsterdam suddenly books an expensive electronics purchase at an airport duty-free shop, a controller in Dublin can spot it in the feed and freeze the card or adjust limits in seconds. For companies that have previously been surprised by large expense claims weeks after a trip, this real-time oversight is one of the biggest arguments in favor of using Soldo for travel.
Costs, FX Markups and Hidden Fees to Watch
Whether Soldo is worth using for travel spending hinges largely on the real cost. First, there is the software subscription, which is charged per month according to plan level. While Soldo adjusts pricing by market and over time, the general structure includes a mid-range plan that adds features like advanced expense rules and a higher-tier “Unlimited” style plan with more customization and support. There is no ongoing free plan for businesses, although Soldo periodically offers a 30-day trial on some tiers so finance teams can test travel workflows before committing.
On top of the base subscription, companies may pay per-employee or per-card fees depending on plan. A marketing agency with twenty frequent travelers might find that each active card user contributes a small monthly cost. This means that issuing a dedicated plastic card to everyone in the company “just in case” is not always cost-effective. A more efficient real-world setup might be to give permanent cards to staff who travel at least quarterly, while occasional travelers use temporary virtual cards that Soldo generates for specific trips or purchases.
Foreign exchange is the next piece of the puzzle. Soldo’s public fee summaries show an FX markup layered on top of the Mastercard rate when card transactions are processed in a different currency than the card’s base. For Eurozone accounts, the markup is around 1.5 percent. This is lower than many high street business debit cards, which often sit closer to 2.75 percent, but higher than the 0 percent FX fee offered by some specialist consumer travel cards on weekdays. For a finance director sending a team to a three-day conference in Copenhagen with estimated card spend of 8,000 EUR equivalent, that 1.5 percent translates to around 120 EUR in FX costs. In exchange, the company gets granular controls, automated receipt capture, and tidy integrations into accounting tools.
There are also usage-based fees that matter specifically for travel, such as replacement cards, certain card funding methods, and ATM withdrawals. A lost card mid-trip is a realistic scenario. If a consultant misplaces their Soldo card in a Lisbon taxi, the replacement fee and delivery cost to a hotel can quickly erase the FX savings for that trip. Many companies handle this by issuing a physical card plus at least one backup virtual card that can be added to a mobile wallet like Apple Pay, so the traveler is not stranded if a physical card disappears.
Real-World Travel Scenarios Where Soldo Shines
Where Soldo really starts to look attractive is in messy, real-world travel scenarios that make traditional expense reports painful. Imagine a ten-person film crew flying from Milan to shoot on location in Athens for a week. They are booking last-minute flights, paying checked luggage fees at the airport, renting lighting equipment, and buying meals on the go. With personal cards, each crew member would end the trip with a stack of receipts in euros, some in Greek, some faded from the sun, and the production accountant would spend days reimbursing everyone and chasing missing documentation.
With Soldo, the production company could issue each crew member a prepaid card with a specific budget for the trip, say 900 EUR per person, and a shared “equipment” card limited to 3,000 EUR. As soon as the cinematographer pays the excess baggage fee at Milan Malpensa, the receipt is photographed in the Soldo app and attached to the transaction. When the lighting technician rents extra cables in Athens, the charge is automatically categorized, and the project manager back in Italy can see at a glance how much of the equipment budget remains. If one card is approaching its limit too quickly, funds can be moved from the central wallet with a couple of clicks.
Another example: a software company based in Dublin sends sales reps to trade shows across Europe. Each event has its own cost center in the accounting system. Historically, the company’s reps have used personal cards for everything from taxis in Berlin to client dinners in Amsterdam. Two months later, the finance team is still trying to reconcile which receipt belongs to which show. By tying Soldo cards to “business trips” inside the platform, with predefined dates and maximum budgets, the company can cleanly ring-fence spend for each event. A rep’s hotel in Frankfurt, a booth carpet rental, and a client lunch all appear under the same trip in the reporting dashboard, ready to export into the accounting software.
Soldo is also helpful for companies with many small, decentralized trips. Consider a regional facilities company in France whose maintenance technicians drive between sites and occasionally stay overnight. Each technician might make a dozen short trips a year involving tolls, fuel, and modest hotel stays. With Soldo, each technician can have a card restricted to fuel, tolls, and accommodation merchants, avoiding the classic problem of staff using company cards for personal shopping while claiming they were “on the road.” Managers get peace of mind, and technicians do not need to float their own cash.
Limitations, Pain Points and Who Should Probably Skip It
Despite the strengths, Soldo is not a universal solution for travel spending. First, it does not operate as a full business bank account. Companies still need a traditional bank for incoming payments, tax, and payroll. Soldo is an overlay for spend management, which means another system to configure and maintain. Smaller firms, especially sole traders and very small partnerships, may find that a single multi-currency business account with a low-FX debit card covers their travel needs with less complexity.
Soldo is also not intended for casual holidaymakers. If you are a solo traveler planning a two-week trip from Chicago to Spain, platforms like Wise or Revolut personal accounts, or a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card from a major US bank, will usually be better suited. These consumer products often pair low FX costs with travel perks like insurance, airport lounge access, and rewards points, all of which Soldo as a corporate spend tool does not emphasize. Trying to shoehorn Soldo into personal leisure travel would not align with its business-focused terms and availability.
For travel-heavy businesses, another limitation is that Soldo’s FX rates, while reasonable, are not the absolute lowest available. If a London-based consulting firm spends the equivalent of 50,000 GBP a month overseas purely in card transactions, a 1.5 percent FX markup is roughly 750 GBP in monthly spread. A finance director solely obsessed with FX optimization might pair Soldo with another solution or decide that specialized multi-currency accounts with near-zero markup are more important than granular controls. In practice, though, many CFOs judge that time saved on expense processing and fraud prevention outweighs a few tenths of a percent in FX.
A final consideration is cultural and process change. Moving to Soldo requires companies to rethink how they handle travel approvals, card issuance, and reconciliation. Staff used to “spend now, expense later” may initially resist pre-set card budgets or tighter merchant category controls. Successful implementations usually involve clear communication before travel season begins. For example, a consultancy might pilot Soldo with one project team, gathering feedback on pain points like hotel pre-authorizations and car rental deposits, before rolling it out company-wide.
Comparing Soldo to Other Travel Spending Options
When evaluating Soldo for travel, it helps to compare it to concrete alternatives that companies commonly consider. One benchmark is a traditional bank-issued corporate credit card. Consider a German manufacturing firm that gives its frequent travelers a corporate Visa linked directly to a central account. FX fees may be close to 2.5 to 3 percent, and there is often no real-time visibility per employee. Travelers enjoy the convenience of one card accepted worldwide and sometimes benefit from built-in travel insurance. However, the finance team may only see itemized statements weeks after travel, making it harder to catch overspending during a trip.
Another comparator is a modern multi-currency business account like Revolut Business or Wise Business. These platforms often provide local account details in several currencies, competitive FX rates, and company cards. A small Irish startup with ten employees might open a Revolut Business account and issue team cards for travel. This works well when the fintech account serves as the main business bank, combining international transfers and travel spending in one place. In contrast, Soldo expects you to maintain your existing bank and focuses solely on spend control, which can be an advantage if you are happy with your current bank but want better travel expense workflows.
On the other end of the spectrum are purely personal travel cards, which many employees already use and then reclaim via expenses. A marketing manager from Madrid might use a no-FX-fee credit card that earns airline miles for a conference in London, then submit the statement and receipts later. For the individual, this is attractive: they collect points, and their personal credit line smooths over hotel deposits. For the company, however, this means staff are effectively funding corporate travel from personal credit, and finance has limited control or visibility until reimbursement time. Soldo tries to solve that imbalance by ensuring company funds are always used at the point of sale.
Finally, some companies try to manage travel purely through reimbursement apps paired with personal cards and cash. While modern expense apps improve receipt capture, they cannot prevent an employee from booking a 450 EUR hotel when the policy calls for a 250 EUR cap. In effect, they fix the paperwork but not the behavior. Soldo and similar platforms tackle both: they digitize receipts and also allow managers to define what is allowed in the first place by setting merchant restrictions and budgets before the trip begins.
The Takeaway
So, is Soldo worth using for travel spending? For the right type of organization, the answer is often yes. If your company sends staff on regular trips across Europe or between Europe and the United States, and your finance team struggles with late expense reports, missing receipts, and surprise overspending, Soldo can bring meaningful order to the chaos. Real-time visibility, configurable card limits, and integrated receipt capture directly address some of the most persistent headaches in corporate travel.
At the same time, Soldo is not the cheapest FX solution on the market and not a replacement for a business bank. Companies that primarily want the lowest possible foreign exchange costs for a small number of high-value international payments might be better served by a different tool, or by pairing Soldo with specialist FX services. Casual travelers and individuals planning personal trips will almost always find consumer travel cards or no-FX-fee credit cards more suitable than a corporate spend management platform.
The decision ultimately comes down to your travel profile. If you run a 40-person consulting firm in London with multiple teams on the road every month, the time saved on manual expense processing and the reduced risk of employee credit strain may easily justify Soldo’s subscription and FX fees. On the other hand, a three-person design studio in Lisbon that travels twice a year might only need a simple multi-currency business debit card. By mapping Soldo’s controls and costs against your real-world travel patterns, you can judge whether it belongs at the heart of your company’s next trip.
FAQ
Q1. Can individual travelers sign up for Soldo for their personal trips?
Individual leisure travelers cannot sign up for Soldo directly. It is a business product meant for companies that want to manage employee spending, including travel, not a consumer travel card for holidays.
Q2. How competitive are Soldo’s FX rates compared with typical bank cards?
Soldo usually adds an FX markup of around 1.5 percent on top of the Mastercard rate for foreign currency transactions. That is often lower than many traditional business debit or credit cards, which can charge closer to 2.75 to 3 percent, but higher than some specialist consumer travel cards that offer near-zero markup.
Q3. Does Soldo work worldwide for business travel?
Soldo cards are Mastercard, so they can be used at millions of acceptance points worldwide where Mastercard is supported. However, your company must be registered in a supported region to open a Soldo account in the first place, and certain higher-risk countries or merchants may face additional restrictions or checks.
Q4. Can employees withdraw cash from ATMs with Soldo while abroad?
Yes, employees can withdraw cash from many ATMs, but companies often limit this because ATM withdrawals may carry extra fees and make expenses harder to track. Many businesses prefer to encourage card payments wherever possible to keep reporting clean and control costs.
Q5. Does Soldo include travel insurance or lounge access benefits?
No, Soldo is focused on spend management and control, not on travel perks. It does not typically bundle travel insurance, airport lounge access, or reward points. Companies that value those benefits often pair Soldo with separate insurance policies or use credit cards for specific high-value bookings while relying on Soldo for day-to-day travel spend.
Q6. How quickly can limits be adjusted if a traveler runs out of budget mid-trip?
Managers or finance users with the right permissions can move funds and adjust card limits in real time through the Soldo dashboard. If a consultant in New York hits their card limit because of an unexpected client dinner, a controller back at headquarters can raise the limit or transfer additional funds within minutes.
Q7. What happens if a Soldo card is lost during a trip?
If a card is lost or stolen, it can be frozen or cancelled immediately via the web platform or mobile app, and a replacement can be ordered. Many companies also issue virtual backup cards that employees can add to digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay so they can keep paying even if the physical card is gone.
Q8. Can Soldo help with assigning expenses to specific trips or projects?
Yes, one of Soldo’s strengths is the ability to tag transactions to cost centers, projects, or trips. For example, all spend for a trade show in Paris can be grouped under a single business trip, making it much easier for finance to see the total cost of that event and allocate it correctly in the accounting system.
Q9. Is Soldo suitable for very small businesses or freelancers who travel occasionally?
It depends on the travel pattern. For freelancers and very small firms that travel only a few times a year, the subscription and setup effort may not be justified compared with a simple low-FX business debit card. Soldo tends to make more sense when multiple employees travel regularly and the overhead of managing expenses is significant.
Q10. How does Soldo compare to using personal cards with an expense app?
Personal cards plus an expense app can improve receipt capture, but they still rely on employees spending their own money and being reimbursed later. Soldo flips that by putting company funds directly on controlled cards, reducing employee cash-flow strain and giving finance real-time oversight of travel spending rather than waiting for reimbursements.