Spend Controls block card transactions before they happen. This article explains what each rule covers, its limitations, and what cardholders see when a transaction is declined.
Budgetly default rules (always on)
High risk transactions
Active for every company — cannot be turned off.
Blocks transactions associated with high-risk merchants, categories, or currencies. The specific criteria are set by Budgetly and may change from time to time.
Company rules (Premium and Enterprise)
These are off by default. Admins can enable them in Settings → Preferences → Cards → Spend controls.
ATM withdrawals
Blocks cash withdrawals at ATMs for all company cards.
- Physical cards only — virtual cards cannot withdraw cash regardless of this setting.
- ATM withdrawals can also be blocked per user under Users → [User] → Preferences. The company-wide toggle and the per-user setting work independently.
Liquor stores
Blocks all purchases at liquor stores, bottle shops, and wine merchants.
Important: Alcohol sold at grocery stores and supermarkets (e.g. Aldi, Costco, Woolworths) may not be blocked by this rule. These merchants are typically classified as general retail by the card network, not as liquor stores.
Pubs and bars
Blocks all purchases at bars, pubs, and nightclubs.
Important: Merchant classification by the card network is not always exact. Some restaurants categorised as bar merchants may be blocked by this rule. Conversely, some pubs categorised as restaurant merchants may not be blocked.
International transactions
Blocks any transaction processed in a non-AUD currency.
Important: Some Australian merchants charge in a non-AUD currency (e.g. international travel bookings, overseas-based subscriptions billed in USD). These transactions are blocked by this rule even though the merchant is local.
Online transactions (coming soon)
Note: This control ships as a follow-up release after launch. It will appear in your Spend controls settings once available.
Blocks all card-not-present purchases — online shopping, subscriptions, SaaS tools, and e-commerce.
- In-person transactions (tap, insert, swipe) are unaffected.
- This is a binary block — all online or none. It is not possible to allow some online merchants and block others in this release.
Digital wallet (coming soon)
Note: This control ships as a follow-up release after launch. It will appear in your Spend controls settings once available.
Blocks payments made via Apple Pay and Google Pay. Also prevents cards from being added to mobile wallets.
- Cards already added to a mobile wallet before this rule is enabled are not removed, but payments via those wallets are blocked.
- When a user tries to add a card to Apple Pay or Google Pay while this rule is active, they see: “Digital wallet is disabled for your company.”
- Disabling the rule re-enables wallet payments and allows new provisioning immediately.
What cardholders see when a transaction is declined
When a spend control rule blocks a transaction, the cardholder receives:
- A push notification with the merchant name, amount, and the specific rule name (e.g. “Alcohol purchases are restricted by your company”).
- An email notification with the same details.
- A decline reason on the transaction detail page, showing the rule that triggered the decline — separate from budget-related declines.
What admins see in the Action Log
Every spend control decline creates a separate entry in the Action Log, showing the card, the cardholder, the merchant, the amount, and the rule that triggered the block. Every rule change is also logged, with the admin’s name, the rule that changed, and the time.
Action Log entries for spend control declines are distinct from budget-related decline entries, so finance teams can filter and report on policy enforcement separately.