Costs & Pricing

Metric	Ramp Corporate Card	Spark 1% Classic
Annual fee	$0 on the card. Platform software is separate: Free $0/user/mo; Plus $15/user/mo + unpublished platform fee by team size (20% off annual); Enterprise custom.	$0 (ongoing; no intro-year structure)
Employee card fee	$0; unlimited physical and virtual cards	$0 (free employee cards; no per-card fee published)
Purchase APR	N/A — charge card; no revolving APR published. Marketing “0%” is 30-day statement float, not an intro APR.	28.99% variable on the product page and pre-approval rates block (Sept. 3, 2026). Not published as a range; no Prime + margin table on the Classic page. Review sites still show 29.49%–30.74% — treat as stale vs issuer page.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not offered (no APR product)	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	No separate FTF line. International charges that clear in a non-settlement currency: Visa conversion + markup not exceeding 3%. Local-currency cards on Enterprise / Canada can avoid conversion if spend matches card currency.	$0
Late payment fee	Official: none on the card product. Auto-pay of the full statement is required; failed debit is the operational penalty (possible lock, limit cut, account action).	Not on the official Classic page. Bankrate (Dec 19, 2025): up to $39. Do not apply Cap One charge-card 2.99%-of-unpaid-minimum language to Classic.

Rewards & Value

Metric	Ramp Corporate Card	Spark 1% Classic
Base earn rate	Rate determined by Ramp on Qualified Purchases (Rewards Terms, 15 Jul 2026). Public/spokesperson range 0%–1.5% assigned per customer. Do not treat 1.5% as guaranteed. Canada cards are a separate fixed 1% (out of scope).	Unlimited 1% cash back on every purchase. Marketing: no limits or category restrictions; no minimums. Rewards will not expire for the life of the account.
Welcome bonus	Not disclosed on official corporate-card or pricing pages (3 Sep 2026). Third-party listings conflict: NerdWallet 15 Jun 2026 — $1,000 Ramp card on approval, no min spend, one per new customer; older reviews $500. Treat live offer as Unclear — confirm on application.	None. Live public offer as of September 3, 2026: no cash bonus, no spend threshold. Historical typical offer: also none.
Redemption value	Cash/statement path is 1¢ per 1% only to the extent Ramp assigned that earn rate. Transfers are not 1:1. Cashback is not automatic unless auto-applied to Plus/Bill Pay fees.	Cash at face value on statement credit or check (1¢ per 1% dollar). Official FAQ: redeem for any amount / no minimums. Gift-card rates may vary. Do not assume portal 5% unless the user actually books hotels/cars in Capital One Business Travel. Do not assume World Elite travel credits or transferable miles.
Transfer partners	Not listed in current Rewards Terms. Historical 2024 in-product list (verify in-dashboard): Aeromexico, Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways, Etihad Guest, Marriott Bonvoy, Qantas, Qatar Privilege Club, TAP Miles&Go, Wyndham — commonly 1.5 Ramp points : 1 partner unit. Min historically 100 partner points (150 Ramp). Irreversible; name must match an authorized admin.	None on this cash-back product. Official FAQ: cash rewards earned through spending on Spark Classic are not taxable (issuer still says consult a tax expert).

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Ramp Corporate Card	Spark 1% Classic
Personal guarantee	Not required. Official: “Ramp does not require founders to personally guarantee your expenses.” Corporate liability.	Not quoted on the Classic product page. Commonly reported as required; official Classic sentence missing. Secondary sources (NerdWallet, Ramp, WalletHub) treat Cap One small-business cards, including Classic, as PG required.
Credit check	Official: no personal credit check; no impact to personal credit score. Last 4 of SSN (or foreign passport) of one officer is KYC, plus selfie/ID if stepped up — not a published hard pull.	Pre-approval advertised as no impact to personal score. Submitted application treated by reviewers as a hard pull on personal credit (commonly all three bureaus). Official: application may be declined if you have a freeze with credit bureaus.
Employee cards	Unlimited physical and virtual; company liable. Spend controls: amount, frequency, category block/allow, merchant lock. Apple Pay / Google Pay; 3DS. USD physical cards: no PIN.	Free; add with name, DOB, phone; option to issue plastic or not; custom spend and cash limits, reset mid-cycle. Number allowed not disclosed. Primary account / guarantor remains responsible (Classic page does not spell joint and several).
Product type	Corporate / commercial charge card plus spend-management platform (pay-in-full; not revolving; no published APR)	Revolving business credit card (balance may be carried; interest applies). Not a charge card. Contrast siblings: Spark Cash Plus and Venture X Business are pay-in-full / NPSL charge cards.

Pros & Cons

Ramp Corporate Card

Pros

• $0 card AF and $0 extra-card fees with unlimited virtual/physical cards
• No personal guarantee and no personal credit check (official); corporate liability
• Native controls, receipt capture, and accounting sync — the software is the product
• 30-day interest-free float if auto-pay succeeds
• Visa Signature purchase security, extended warranty, and rental CDW on USD cards

Cons

• Cashback rate is not a published guarantee (0–1.5%, Ramp-determined); foreign/non-USD spend excluded from Qualified Purchases
• Must pay in full; cannot revolve or balance-transfer
• Sole props ineligible; $25k cash + real U.S. address bar
• FX markup up to 3% despite “no FTF” marketing; Plus platform fee and 2026 Bill Pay per-item fees can erase “free”
• Limit can move with linked cash; missed debit is operationally harsh

Spark 1% Classic

Pros

• $0 annual fee with no year-2 surprise
• Explicitly underwritten for fair personal credit — rare in the Spark/Ink/Amex Business set
• Unlimited 1% + 5% Capital One Business Travel hotels/cars; rewards do not expire while the account is open
• $0 foreign-transaction fee on a fair-credit product
• Free employee cards with spend limits, virtual numbers, QBO/Excel export, year-end summaries, and $0 fraud-liability language covering employee cards

Cons

• 28.99% variable purchase APR and no intro 0% — carrying a balance is expensive
• No welcome bonus
• 1% base lags Spark Cash Select (1.5%) and Spark Cash (2%)
• Balance transfers not available
• Likely reports full activity to personal credit — utilization risk

Verdict

Ramp Corporate Card

Ramp is a charge-card ops platform, not a 1.5% bank card and not Brex’s sibling SKU. Official no-PG / no personal pull plus unlimited virtual cards is the reason to pick it. Do not assume 1.5% cashback, a public welcome bonus, or true $0 FX. Sole props, revolvers, and rate-guarantee shoppers should use a traditional PG cash card instead. Plus seats and Bill Pay rails are software costs, not a card annual fee.

Spark 1% Classic

Spark Classic is a credit-access card, not a rewards engine and not a 0% working-capital tool. Do not confuse it with Spark Cash Select (1.5%, $750 bonus, 9-month 0%) or Spark Cash Plus (2% NPSL charge card). Do not copy Venture X or World Elite Spark insurance onto this SKU until Classic’s own Guide to Benefits is confirmed. If you can qualify for Select or Ink Unlimited, those are better earners. If you cannot, Classic is a reasonable builder — only if you pay in full.