What happens if a purchase exceeds the available funds?

This can happen due to the fund limit (the limit on a specific card/fund) or the company balance limit (the maximum outstanding balance across all company cards). Virtual cards with specific spending limits will reject any amount above the set threshold, and employees receive instant notification via push notification or SMS that the transaction was blocked.

How Ramp prevents overspending

Ramp enforces spending limits through multiple control layers:

• Fund-level limits: Each fund (which can be linked to physical or virtual cards) has a spending limit set by admins. Any transaction exceeding this limit is automatically declined.
• Company balance limit: Your company has a maximum statement balance that can be outstanding across all Ramp funds and cards during a statement period. Transactions that would exceed this limit are declined.
• Budget controls: Admins can set department, category, or project budgets. When a purchase would push spending over budget, the system flags or blocks it based on your configuration.
• Real-time validation: Every transaction is checked against available limits before authorization, preventing overspend before money leaves the company.
• Virtual card precision: Virtual cards can be issued with exact amounts (e.g., $500 for a specific software subscription), and any charge above that amount is automatically rejected by the card network.

What happens when a transaction is declined

When Ramp declines a transaction due to insufficient funds or limit constraints:

1. Immediate decline: The merchant receives a standard card decline at checkout.
2. Cardholder notification: The employee receives a push notification (if they have the Ramp mobile app with push notifications enabled) or an SMS notification explaining why the transaction was blocked.
3. No manual intervention needed: The transaction never posts, so there's no need for reversals or reconciliation.

Requesting additional funds

If an employee needs to make a purchase that exceeds their current limit:

• Request a limit increase: Employees can log into their Ramp account on web or the mobile app, click on the funds in question, click Actions > Edit, then type in a new dollar amount and click "Save changes." The request routes to the appropriate approver based on your approval workflows.
• Issue a new virtual card: Admins can quickly generate a virtual card with a higher limit for the specific purchase.
• Adjust budget allocations: Admins can reallocate budget between departments or categories in real time if funds are available elsewhere.