Vendor and category controls limit where your Relay Visa® Debit Card can be used, so you can issue purpose-specific cards to your team.
What you need before you start
Access to a Relay account with permission to manage cards (owner, admin, or team member with card management enabled)
The specific Relay Visa® Debit Card you want to edit, either physical or virtual
The Relay web dashboard or the Relay mobile app
What are vendor and category controls on a Relay debit card?
Vendor and category controls are per-card spending restrictions that let you allow or block specific merchants or merchant categories. You can use them to issue a gas-only card to a driver, a software-only card to your ops lead, or a card that blocks a single problem vendor across your team.
Controls apply at the moment of authorization. If a transaction falls outside the card's allowed vendors or categories, the card declines.
How do I edit vendor and category controls on the web?
Sign in to Relay on the web, open the card, and edit its spending controls. The full flow:
Sign in to your Relay account at app.relayfi.com.
Go to the Cards tab.
Select the card you want to edit.
Click Edit beside Spending controls.
Add, remove, or update the vendors or categories you want to allow or block.
Click Save.
How do I edit vendor and category controls in the Relay mobile app?
Open the Relay mobile app, tap into the card, and edit its spending controls from the card detail screen. The full flow:
Sign in to the Relay app on your phone.
Tap the Cards tab.
Select the card you want to edit.
Tap Spending controls.
Tap the vendor or category controls option.
Add, remove, or update the vendors or categories.
Tap Save.
What happens after I save new controls?
New controls apply immediately to every future authorization on that card. Existing pending transactions that were already approved before you saved will still settle. Give your team a heads-up before you tighten controls on a card they carry, so they know why a transaction might decline.
What if a vendor or category is not listed?
Click Request a merchant/category inside the spending controls screen and submit the vendor or category name. Relay uses the Visa merchant classification system, so a merchant is only selectable once Visa's directory has assigned it a category code. Requesting a missing merchant flags it for review.
Can I set both a vendor and a category restriction on the same card?
No. A single card can carry either a vendor restriction or a category restriction, not both at once. You can list multiple vendors on a vendor-restricted card, or multiple categories on a category-restricted card, but you cannot mix the two restriction types on the same card.
If you need both, issue two virtual cards to the same team member, one for each restriction type.
Common issues
Transaction declined at a merchant you allowed — the merchant may be classified under a different vendor or category by Visa than you expect. Ask the cardholder for the merchant name that shows on the receipt, then check the card's control list against that exact name.
Vendor not appearing when you search — the merchant hasn't been assigned a Visa category code yet, or Relay's directory hasn't ingested it. Submit it through Request a merchant/category.
Saved changes didn't apply — refresh the card detail screen and confirm the controls list matches what you saved. If it still looks wrong, sign out and back in.
Cardholder can't see the new controls — controls are visible to account owners and team members with card management permissions, not to the cardholder using the card day-to-day.
Need both a vendor and category restriction — issue a second virtual card to the same team member, one restriction type per card.
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