Card spend approvals let you require a manager or admin to sign off on employee card purchases, either on every transaction or only above a dollar amount you set, and the feature is included on the Grow Plan and the Scale Plan.
What you need before you start
A Relay account on the Grow Plan or the Scale Plan
Access to the Relay dashboard on the web (spend approval rules cannot be set up in the mobile app)
The employee card you want to govern, or the ability to create a new card for the cardholder
A teammate with the manager or admin role on your Relay account to name as the approver
What is a card spend approval rule in Relay?
A card spend approval rule holds an employee card purchase for sign-off before the transaction clears. When a purchase matches the rule, the cardholder submits a request with the amount, reason, and expected purchase date, and the named approver decides whether to approve or deny the request. Notifications go out by SMS and email at each step.
You can require approval on every transaction the card runs, or only on transactions above a dollar amount you set. The rule lives on the individual card, so different employees can operate under different rules.
Who can use card spend approvals?
Card spend approvals are available on the Grow Plan and the Scale Plan. The feature is not included on the Starter Plan.
The role that manages the rule must be a manager or admin on the Relay account. Cardholders who submit requests can hold any role that has been issued a Relay Visa® Debit Card or a Relay Visa® Credit Card.
How do I set up a spend approval rule?
Follow these six steps in your Relay dashboard to create a new rule on a card.
Sign in to your Relay dashboard on the web.
Open an existing employee card, or create a new card for the cardholder.
In the side panel, scroll to Pre-approved spending and click Set up.
Choose the rule type: require approval for every transaction, or require approval for transactions above a dollar amount you enter.
Select an approver. The approver must be a manager or admin on your Relay account.
Click Save to activate the rule.
The rule is live right away and applies to any new transaction on the card. You can edit or remove the rule from the same card panel at any time.
How does the cardholder request approval?
The cardholder submits a request from their card view in Relay before the purchase runs.
The cardholder opens the card in their Relay account and sees the active spend rule.
They submit a request with the purchase amount, the reason, and the expected purchase date.
Relay notifies the assigned approver by SMS and email.
Once approved, the cardholder receives an SMS and email confirming the decision and the approved amount.
The cardholder uses the approved amount on one purchase or across multiple purchases until the approved date ends.
How does the approver review a request?
The approver reviews and decides on requests from the Spend Requests dashboard in Relay.
The approver receives an SMS and email alert when a new request comes in.
They open Spend Requests in their Relay dashboard.
They review the request details: cardholder, amount, reason, and expected purchase date.
They click Approve or Deny. Relay notifies the cardholder of the decision.
Can an approved amount be split across multiple transactions?
Yes. An approved amount can be spent as one purchase or split across multiple purchases on the same card until the approved date ends. Transactions below the approval threshold do not count against the approved total, because they are already permitted under the rule.
Example. With a $50 threshold and a $200 approval, any of these outcomes are valid:
One $200 purchase
Two $100 purchases
Any number of purchases at or under $49, which run automatically and do not draw down the $200 approval
Can I use spend approvals and card spend limits at the same time?
No. On a given card, you can turn on either spend approvals or the spend-limits workflow that includes vendor and category restrictions, but not both. Activating one turns the other off. Choose the workflow that matches how you want to govern the card, and use the other on a different card if you need it.
How do I edit or remove a spend approval rule?
Open the card in your Relay dashboard on the web, go to the side panel, and update or delete the current rule under Pre-approved spending. Save the changes. Edits take effect on new transactions; anything already approved keeps the terms that were in place when the approval was granted.
Common issues
My card declined a purchase I expected to be pre-approved. Confirm the purchase amount is at or below the approved amount and that the approval date has not expired. If the purchase required pre-approval and none was in place, the card declines the transaction.
My cardholder is not getting SMS or email notifications. Confirm the cardholder's mobile number and email are current in their Relay profile and that notifications are turned on for their account.
The declined transaction did not generate a rejection email or SMS. Rejection notifications for transactions declined because they needed pre-approval are not currently sent. This is on the product roadmap. Cardholders can see declined transactions in the card's transaction history.
I cannot find the pre-approved spending option on the card. Card spend approvals are only available on the Grow Plan and the Scale Plan. Confirm your account is on one of those plans in Settings > Billing.
I want both spend approvals and category restrictions on the same card. The two workflows cannot run on the same card. Use a separate card for the cardholder if you need both patterns of control.
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