Set Spend Approval Rules for Employee Cards

What is Card Spend Approval?

Card Spend Approvals allow admins and managers to set pre-approval rules for employee card transactions. You can choose to approve every purchase or just those above a set amount. This provides added control and reduces surprises in your business’s cash flow. Card Spend Approvals are only available on Grow and Scale plans.

How to Set Up Card Spend Approvals

1. Sign in to your Relay dashboard (web only).
2. Select an employee card or create a new one.
3. In the side panel, scroll to "Pre-approved spending" and click "Set up".
4. Choose your rule type:
   • Require approval for every transaction
   • Require approval for transactions above a dollar amount
5. Select an approver (must be a manager or admin).
6. Click Save to apply the rule.

Tip: You can edit or remove the approval rule from the same card panel at any time. 

How It Works

Admin or Manager Setup (Web only)

• Enable rules during card creation or from the card side panel
• Choose between:
  • Require approval for every transaction
  • Require approval for purchases above a specific dollar amount
• Assign an approver (must be a manager or admin)

Cardholder Experience

• Cardholders see spend rules directly in their card view
• Submit requests with the amount, reason, and expected purchase date
• Receive updates by SMS/email when approval is needed and when it’s granted
• Approved amounts can be used in one or multiple transactions until the end of the approved date

Approver Workflow

• Approvers receive alerts via SMS/email
• Approvers can approve or deny from their Spend Requests dashboard (within the Cards page)

Can the approved amount be split across multiple transactions?

Yes! After a transaction is approved, the employee can use the approved amount in one purchase or split it across multiple purchases. It doesn't have to be spent all at once.

However, there’s an important detail to keep in mind: transactions below the approval threshold don’t count toward the approved total. That’s because they’re already allowed and don’t require approval.

Example: If the threshold is set at $50 and you approve $200 for an employee, they could:

• Make one $200 purchase
• Make two $100 purchases
• But if they make four $49 purchases, those will not count against the $200 approval—they’re automatically allowed

This ensures low-value purchases aren’t mistakenly used to deplete an approved amount.

Things to Know

• Plan Access: Only available on Grow and Scale plans
• Compatibility: Cannot be used alongside category/vendor restrictions or spend limits
• Notifications: Transactions declined due to required spend approval do not currently generate a rejection email/SMS (coming soon)

FAQs