Volopay Singapore review: Business account features, fees, and benefits

Rating

Overall rating: 3.7 out of 5

Methodology

Our evaluation of the Volopay business account is based on a clear and transparent rating framework, designed to provide an objective overview of its overall quality and performance.

Arithmetic mean approach

The final score is derived by calculating the arithmetic mean, which involves adding up the individual category scores and dividing the result by the total number of categories.

Equal weighting

Each category (Features, Pricing & FX, Global Payments, Ease of Onboarding, and Support & Ecosystem) is assigned equal importance in the final calculation, ensuring a balanced and unbiased score.

Data sources

Ratings are based on a combination of official documentation, publicly available pricing and feature details, third-party reviews, and verified user feedback.

Interpretation caveat

While this method provides a fair and objective benchmark, it does not reflect individual business priorities.

Intended use

The final rating is designed as a general performance indicator, useful for comparisons and decision-making. But it should be considered alongside your business’ specific needs and priorities.

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Volopay key features

Volopay was founded in Singapore in 2020. The purpose-built spend management platform was borne of co-founder Rajah Shaji's frustration at reconciling business expenses, especially the time-consuming manual processes of tracking and filing individual vendor payments and subscriptions at the end of the month. Having since fulfilled its mission of integrating all business spending on a unified platform to streamline financial operations, Volopay's expense management system includes business accounts, corporate cards, automated accounts payables, and seamless accounting integrations.

In Singapore, Volopay holds a 'Major Payment Institution' licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2023. With operational hubs in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia, it has a strong presence in Asia Pacific, where it has made international vendor payments convenient and cost-effective.

For this Volopay business account overview, let's look at its top features:

Multi-currency account

The business account can hold up to 11 currencies – including USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, HKD, and JPY – and facilitate fund transfers to more than 180 countries. Funds are segregated and held securely in DBS Singapore trust accounts.

Corporate cards

It provides Visa-powered corporate cards secured with 3DS authentication. The cards – available in virtual and physical formats – can be customised by setting spending limits, expense approvals, and merchant restrictions. They can be used to pay vendors and clients, cover travel expenses, and much more. The liquidity they offer helps companies improve cash flow, avoid payment delays, and manage company expenses efficiently. Each account holder is eligible for unlimited virtual cards and one physical corporate card.

Local and international transfers

Volopay routes local transfers within Singapore via the FAST system, with the funds reportedly reaching the recipient within seconds.

It forwards cross-border payments using SWIFT and non-SWIFT payment systems, ensuring the money is credited to the recipients' accounts within just a few days.

Automated accounts payables

Volopay's accounts payables platform features automated invoice matching and invoice processing, scheduled vendor payments, and creation of multi-level approval workflows. By eliminating the need to manually file invoices and physically chase down approvers, it reduces errors and processing time. Finance teams can schedule bulk and recurring payments and receive alerts and reminders, so they never miss a payment deadline.

Accounting integrations

Volopay offers seamless integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Zoho Books, Deskera, and MYOB. This helps finance teams export financial data into any accounting system of their choice and sync the data across platforms and systems for uniformity and accuracy. The system even allows them to categorise business expenses and tag specific cards, merchants, and departments for better clarity, understanding, and analysis.

Real-time expense tracking

Business account holders can monitor spending in real time, make payments, load corporate cards, manage reimbursements, track unsettled transactions, and do much more from a single centralised dashboard. All these functions and features are available on the Volopay app or on the platform's 'Expenses Overview' page.

Volopay fees and exchange rates

As an all-in-one financial services provider, Volopay Singapore works on a SaaS subscription pricing model. There are two available plans – 'Premium cards' and 'Accounts payable automation'. However, quotes are only available on request. Interested businesses can get in touch with the company's sales team. Volopay claims there are no hidden charges, transaction fees, or set-up fees involved.

With very little pricing information available, here's what we do know about the costs associated with a Volopay business account:

Subscription fees

We know the 'Premium cards' plan comes with a mandatory total monthly spend requirement across all cards of at least SGD $5,000, failing which a flat fee of SGD $49 SGD applies. Furthermore, availing of additional Volopay services incurs a service fee starting at SGD $20 per month (or SGD #170 per year). A 12-month free trial might be available, so customers are advised to check for it.

Each physical corporate card incurs an order fee of SGD $5. Virtual cards are free.

There is no information on any account opening fee, initial deposit amount, minimum balance requirement, or transaction limit, if applicable.

Transfer fees

Local transfers are free.

The Volopay website holds no information on international transfer fees. But according to some reports, multi-currency payments to other countries incur a fee of SGD $35 if sent via SWIFT or SGD $7.5 for non-SWIFT transfers.

Exchange rates

Again, Volopay does not disclose its foreign exchange rates and/or mark-ups. However, it claims to offer competitive FX rates compared to traditional banks, adding that its use of SWIFT and non-SWIFT payment routes helps its customers avoid hefty FX fees.

How to open a Volopay business account

Here's what you need to know about opening a business account with Volopay Singapore:

Eligibility

The business account is only available to companies registered in Singapore or those that have a Singapore entity onboarded by Volopay.

Documents required

At the time of account opening, you will be asked to submit certain KYB documents, including an ACRA registration certificate, proof of ID, and proof of address. The process might also require at least one director and one authorised signatory to sign off on the paperwork.

Volopay business account opening – A step-by-step guide

• On the Volopay homepage, click on 'Sign up' and enter the required company details such as company name, number of employees, average monthly spend, applicant's name, their job title, contact number, and email, etc
  
• Book a 30-minute demo at a time and date of your convenience. During the demo, you will be informed about Volopay's services and pricing plans. You can invite up to 10 guests to the demo
  
• After picking a pricing plan, you will be asked to submit the KYB documents. Verification takes at least 5 days
  
• After the application is approved, you will be invited to an onboarding session, where Volopay's success team will help you complete your account set-up. After this, you can start using your business account immediately
  

Who is Volopay Singapore best suited for?

While the Volopay business account and integrated expense management platform is targeted at small businesses and start-ups, it specifically suits those with limited global payment requirements. Its corporate cards feature, on the other hand, benefits companies looking for a convenient way to expenses and bill payments and boost cash flow.

Volopay is also a good match overall for companies seeking an affordable all-in-one financial stack with automated payment processing, real-time expense tracking, and accounting tools that provide complete visibility into financial operations and tight control over company expenses.

Volopay is not a good fit for:

Due to its limited currency support, the Volopay account is not for large and rapidly growing businesses with a vast network of international vendors and clients and high-volume multi-currency payments. The business account might also not serve the needs of Singapore businesses with trade dealings outside Asia Pacific.

Volopay business account pros and cons

The benefits include:

• Multi-currency business account
  
• Free local transfers
  
• Global transactions across 180+ countries in multiple currencies
  
• Unlimited virtual cards to boost company cash flow and financial stability
  
• Funds held securely in DBS Singapore trust accounts
  
• 100% online account opening and onboarding with minimal paperwork
  
• Access to accounting integrations, expense management, accounts payable, and vendor management services that enable real-time expense tracking, streamlined financial workflows and expense approvals, automated invoice processing, etc
  

Meanwhile, the drawbacks are:

• Limited multi-currency support
  
• Limited geographical scope
  
• Eligibility restricted to Singapore registered businesses
  
• Lack of pricing transparency
  

Ratings across platforms

• Trustpilot: 4.1 out of 5 stars with praise for support and response and some dissatisfaction with new system updates
  
• Google Play: 3.5 out of 5 stars with positive feedback on support and seamless interface and negative experiences related to transaction failures and downtime
  
• G2: 4.3 out of 5 stars with customer service again receiving a thumbs up
  
• Capterra Singapore: 4.5 out of 5 stars with reviewers praising it for ease of use and customer support
  

Volopay vs Aspire: A comparison

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Volopay and Aspire are both small business-focused fintechs offering all-in-one services to streamline expense management and financial management. Despite having a similar product portfolio, Aspire holds a clear edge over Volopay on two key aspects. The first being its multi-currency business account, which supports 30+ currencies compared to Volopay's 11, helping businesses make international transactions and manage funds in a much larger number of foreign currencies. Second, Aspire offers FX rates starting from 0.2%, among the lowest in the market, whereas Volopay's FX rates are not publicly disclosed.

Other alternatives to Volopay

• Wise: If you need a business account with extensive multi-currency support, Wise Business is the answer. It facilitates international transactions in 40+ currencies across more than 70 countries. With competitive FX rates and transparent pricing, it is generally considered an extremely affordable alternative for global transactions.
  
• Airwallex: The Airwallex business account allows you to transact in 20+ currencies and has a significantly wider reach extending to more than 200 countries. It also offers competitive FX rates and the majority of global payments are processed within a day. Like Volopay, it offers extensive expense management services including real-time expense tracking, batch payments, multi-level approval workflows, and corporate cards.
  

Conclusion

Volopay offers robust expense management and accounting integrations to help businesses in Singapore track and manage expenses efficiently. Its business account and virtual cards are an excellent resource for paying international clients and vendors in multiple currencies. However, the account's limited currency scope and lack of pricing transparency gives rival business accounts a competitive advantage. The Aspire business account, for instance, not only offers wider currency support, it also comes with market-leading FX rates, upfront transaction fees with no hidden costs, and same-day international transactions in 15+ currencies. And you don't miss out on an all-in-one financial stack as Aspire also offers unlimited corporate cards, automated expense management, streamlined accounts payables and accounts receivables services, and seamless accounting integrations.

FAQs

Is Volopay a good company?

Volopay is a reputed company, having been voted the fourth most popular fintech in Singapore in 2023. It receives high ratings on various platforms with its user-friendly interface, accounting integrations, and expense tracking coming in for praise.

Is Volopay safe?

Yes. Volopay uses robust security and compliance features including data encryption and built-in fraud detection. It also safeguards customers' funds by entrusting it to a top-tier custodian bank (DBS).

How does Volopay work?

Volopay is an all-in-one financial management platform designed to help finance teams streamline expense management, automate accounting, manage multi-currency payments through its business account, and improve cash flow with its corporate cards.

Is Volopay good for start-ups?

Volopay's comprehensive financial stack helps start-ups automate and streamline workflows, track expenses in real time, manage company funds efficiently by setting spending limits and budgets, and grow their business globally with its multi-currency business account.

How is Volopay different?

Volopay's distinguishing feature is that it is provides exhaustive financial management products and services and accounting tools that are all accessible on a single centralised platform.