Ever spent hours planning the perfect budget, only to watch it crumble by the end of the month? It happens more often than you think. Even the most detailed plans can fall apart when spending runs wild. One swipe here, one charge there, and suddenly your team’s treating the company card like it’s a rewards program. Without the right controls, overspending isn’t just possible—it’s practically guaranteed. And just like that, your budget goes out the window. Merchant Control is your first step towards fixing the real issue: lack of spend control.
What Happens Without Spend Control
Let’s be honest, the problem usually isn’t poor planning. Most businesses do plan their budgets carefully, but things start to fall apart when there’s no control over how that budget is actually spent. Unmonitored spending, no real-time expense tracking solutions, and unclear limits all lead to trouble. The real culprit? No spending control. When businesses can’t track or limit expenses, it becomes hard to stay on top of the budget.
Picture this: a team member booking a 5-star hotel thinking it’s totally fine, simply because no one told them otherwise. Now your reporting’s off, accountability’s out the window, and forecasting feels more like guessing. Without control, you’re basically crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. This is why having the right expense management tools in place is important.
Say Goodbye to Manual Checks, Hello to Smarter Controls.
No one wants their finance team spending hours going through endless spreadsheets trying to catch spending mistakes. It’s exhausting, time-consuming, and completely avoidable.
Which is why Swipey has built a Merchant Control feature to help fix it. It lets you define where your company funds can be spent—by vendor, category, or department—so off-policy spending is stopped before it starts. That means fewer errors, cleaner records and less time wasted.
It’s more than just managing your expenses. It helps you reduce manual checks, build accountability, and create a team that’s in control.
How it Works
Custom Categories for Each Card
Assign different spending categories to different cards based on departments or needs—like marketing, transport, or dining. Only the approved categories will work, which means fewer chances of accidental or unauthorised spending.
Turn Off ATM Withdrawals
You can disable ATM withdrawals completely to avoid cash misuse and eliminate the need for petty cash. It also helps encourage more transparent, trackable spending. And when paired with financial automation, it becomes even easier to see where every ringgit goes.
Set Limits & Deactivate Categories Anytime
Once a campaign or project ends, you can disable related categories on the card. No more “oops” charges after things are wrapped up.
How Merchant Control Can Help You
It isn’t just about setting limits. It’s about avoiding budget headaches before they even start. When you decide exactly where your company money can be spent, you reduce the risk of misuse from the get-go. That means fewer surprises, fewer awkward questions, and a budget that stays on track.
Budgeting becomes more predictable, and your finance team can finally breathe a little easier. Whether you’re limiting ad spend or blocking cash withdrawals, this level of control changes the game. That’s why more businesses are turning to platforms that offer built-in Merchant Control—and Swipey is one of them.
If your budget keeps going off track, it’s probably not because someone did the math wrong. It’s because no one’s really keeping up with where the money is going. With the right guardrails in place, like Merchant Control, your team can spend smarter without the slip-ups. It keeps the budget tight and tidy, without making you feel like you’re babysitting every transaction. When there’s no control, budgets don’t behave. It’s time to take back control and make every ringgit work the way you want it to. Sign up for Swipey now.
Co-authored by Dania Omar & Kristen Tegjeu-Carlos
