Float Card Review 2026: Fees, Limits & Who It Suits

Float is the Canadian answer to the modern corporate card: a Toronto-based spend-management platform that issues free CAD Visa and USD Mastercard corporate cards to Canadian businesses, pays interest on the balances that fund them, and syncs every receipt into Xero or QuickBooks. It is not a bank and says so plainly — Float is a payment service provider registered under Canada's Retail Payment Activities Act and registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (M23497654), with customer money held in trust accounts at Scotiabank and CDIC cover up to $100,000 combined across CAD and USD. Our dataset records the card at $0 issuance and $0 monthly on the Essentials plan, on Visa and Mastercard, for Canadian businesses only.

The product has two faces, and the difference decides whether it fits you. By default Float cards are pre-funded: your card limit is your Float balance, you load money by Interac e-Transfer, EFT, ACH or wire, and you spend against it. The balance is not dead money — it earns a variable yield that third-party reviews checked at 2.75% on CAD and USD in November 2026, paid monthly. Float's own pricing page shows the rate live rather than printing a fixed number. (source: Float official fees page)

The second face is Float Charge, a separate approval that extends up to $3 million in unsecured credit on 15- or 30-day interest-free terms, with no personal guarantee. Charge is for established companies: Float asks for a registered partnership or corporation that is profitable or holds 12 months of operating funds in the bank, with at least $50,000 in cash. A sole proprietor or a new or loss-making business starts pre-funded. (source: Float official fees page)

What Float is for is the daily machinery of a Canadian business that spends in two currencies. The CAD card is a Visa, the USD card is a Mastercard issued by Thread Bank, and converting between the two inside Float costs 0.25% — a fraction of what a Canadian bank charges to convert, and the reason to hold both cards rather than spending USD on the CAD card, which carries a 2.5% foreign transaction fee. Cards come with per-card limits, merchant and category controls, multi-level approval workflows on the Professional plan, and automated receipt collection with GST, HST and PST read off each receipt. Bill payments run by wire with no-fee EFT and ACH, reimbursements pay out by direct deposit in CAD (and USD on Professional), and the accounting sync is two-way with QuickBooks Online and Xero, plus NetSuite on Professional. (source: Float official fees page)

Float at a glance

Fees in detail

The Essentials plan is genuinely free: $0 per user per month, up to 20 physical cards and unlimited virtual cards, no per-card fees, and no minimum balance. The Professional plan costs $10 per user per month in CAD, starting at $100 a month, which includes the first 10 active users — you only pay for employees who actually use the platform. Enterprise is custom-priced with a dedicated success manager and custom Charge terms. There is no annual fee on any plan, and inbound payments by wire, EFT and ACH are free. (source: Float official fees page)

Cashback is the figure most likely to disappoint, so read it carefully: Float pays 1% cashback, but only on card spend above $25,000 a month per card program — CAD and USD counted separately. A business spending $20,000 a month earns nothing; a business spending $40,000 earns 1% on the $15,000 above the threshold. Enterprise plans have different rewards structures, set with sales. (source: Float official fees page)

The yield is the steadier reward: balances in CAD and USD earn a variable rate that November 2026 reviews put at 2.75%, calculated daily and paid monthly. Float can change it without notice: its own pricing page renders the live rate rather than printing one. (source: Float official fees page)

Foreign exchange is where Float earns its keep for Canadian businesses. Converting CAD to USD inside the account costs 0.25%, and spending from the USD card then costs nothing extra. Spend USD directly on the CAD Visa and the foreign transaction fee is 2.5% instead — so the cheap path is to convert first and spend on the USD card. Bill payments by EFT and ACH carry no fee, Interac e-Transfer funding is free, and transfers land in one business day. There is no fee listed for issuing or replacing cards on either the free or the paid plan. (source: Float official fees page)

• Card: $0 issuance, $0 monthly on Essentials — up to 20 physical, unlimited virtual
• Professional: $10/user/mo CAD, from $100/mo (first 10 users included)
• Cashback: 1% only on spend above $25,000/month per currency
• Yield: 2.75% variable on CAD and USD balances (November 2026 checks; Float shows the live rate)
• FX: 0.25% CAD-to-USD conversion inside Float; 2.5% if you spend foreign currency on the CAD card
• Inbound wire, EFT and ACH: $0; Interac e-Transfer funding: $0
• Float Charge: up to $3M unsecured credit, 15- or 30-day interest-free terms, separate approval

Features and how it works

The card controls are the feature finance teams actually use. Every card gets its own spend limit and merchant or category restrictions, and Professional adds multi-level request and approval workflows, custom submission policies and post-sale manager transaction reviews. Receipts are collected automatically after every transaction and matched to the spend, with GST, HST and PST extracted for Canadian tax tracking — the kind of detail that saves a bookkeeper hours at month end. Cards can be paused, edited or cancelled instantly, and spending is visible in real time.

The accounting side is unusually complete for a free plan. Essentials syncs two-way with QuickBooks Online and Xero with custom exports; Professional adds NetSuite, advanced accounting rules, split line items, bookkeeper access and HRIS integrations, plus a Slack integration for spend requests. Employee reimbursements pay out by direct deposit with mileage tracking, in CAD on Essentials and in USD as well on Professional. Bill payments run from the Float balance or from connected banks, with automated AP intake and vendor management on the paid plans.

Two honest limits. First, Float is not a bank account replacement and says so in its own FAQ: the accounts do not support pre-authorized debits, so they cannot be the funding account for payroll processing, cannot be registered with a utility for automatic withdrawals, and cannot be used for payroll verification.

Second, the yield and the cashback are both moving targets — the rate is variable and the 1% cashback has a $25,000 monthly threshold per currency, so a small business earns the yield but effectively no cashback. Float raised CAD $85 million in a Series C in June 2026 to build what it calls Canada's intelligent financial operating system, which is a funding signal, not a guarantee — but it is a well-capitalised one. (source: Float official fees page)

• CAD Visa and USD Mastercard corporate cards from one account; 0.25% internal conversion
• Unlimited virtual cards; up to 20 physical cards free on Essentials
• Float Charge: up to $3M unsecured 30-day credit, no personal guarantee
• Per-card limits, merchant controls and multi-level approval workflows
• Automated receipt collection with GST/HST/PST tracking; QBO, Xero and NetSuite sync
• Interac e-Transfer funding; one-business-day transfers; bill pay by no-fee EFT/ACH

How to get the Float card

1. Check eligibility: your business must be registered in Canada — registered sole proprietors are accepted, as are corporations and partnerships, in every province and territory.
2. Apply at floatfinancial.com — Float runs no hard credit check and asks for no personal guarantee to open an account. Verification is as a FINTRAC-registered money services business.
3. Fund the account by Interac e-Transfer, EFT, ACH or wire — inbound transfers are $0 — and set up automatic top-ups so cards never run dry.
4. Issue virtual cards instantly for each employee or spending category, with per-card limits and merchant controls; order physical cards where needed (up to 20 free on Essentials).
5. Connect QuickBooks Online or Xero for two-way sync, turn on receipt collection and Canadian tax tracking, and check whether you qualify for Float Charge credit or the Professional plan's approval workflows.

Who Float suits best — and who should choose something else?

Float suits Canadian businesses that spend in both CAD and USD and want one free stack — corporate cards, expense management, bill pay and a yield on idle cash — without a personal guarantee. It is a poor fit for businesses outside Canada, for anyone who needs a primary bank account with pre-authorized debits and payroll, for small spenders chasing cashback (the $25,000 monthly threshold means most earn none), and for companies that need revolving credit rather than 30-day charge terms.

Practical notes

Three facts in older guides are out of date. First, the network: our dataset listed Float as Visa only — the CAD card is a Visa, but the USD card is a Mastercard issued by Thread Bank, and this review corrects that. Second, the Professional price: several 2026 reviews quote $99 a month, but Float's own pricing page, checked in November 2026, now lists Professional at $10 per user per month in CAD, starting at $100 a month for the first 10 users — this review uses the live price. (source: Float official fees page)

Third, the yield: Float's pricing page renders the interest rate dynamically rather than printing it, so the 2.75% figure comes from third-party reviews checked in November 2026, not from a fixed number on Float's site; treat it as variable. One more number to use carefully: the 2.5% foreign transaction fee applies when you spend a foreign currency on the CAD card — converting inside Float first costs 0.25%, which is the path the review recommends. (source: Float official fees page)

Frequently asked questions

Keep comparing

Float features in best cards for businesses. For other business cards, see the Rho review and the Mercury review.

Sources & methodology