Introducing vendor-locked cards

Today we’re launching vendor-locked cards. They are virtual cards that only work with the merchant you choose, so a card issued for your design tool can’t be used anywhere else, even if the number leaks.

Why we built them

Most companies pay for software with one or two shared cards. It works until it doesn’t. A vendor gets breached, the card is compromised, and suddenly forty subscriptions fail at once while someone rebuilds the list of everything that card was paying for.

Vendor-locked cards solve the problem at the root. Every subscription gets its own card, and every card only works with one merchant. A leaked number becomes useless the moment it’s used anywhere else.

How they work

• Create a card from any vendor in your spend view, or issue one from scratch and name the merchant.

• The first successful charge locks the card to that merchant. Every attempt from a different merchant is declined automatically.

• Set a monthly limit slightly above the expected bill, so price increases surface as a notification instead of a surprise.

• Assign an owner. When the renewal comes up, Saro asks them whether the tool is still needed.

Built-in controls

Each card can also carry an end date, a single-use flag and a maximum amount per transaction. When a trial ends or a project wraps up, the card stops working on its own. No one has to remember to cancel it.

If you need to pause a card, freeze it from the dashboard or the mobile app. Freezing is instant and reversible. Unfreeze it when you’re ready, and the merchant lock stays in place.

Available today

Vendor-locked cards are available on every Saro plan at no extra cost. You can issue as many as you need, and existing virtual cards can be converted with one click from the card settings.

“We moved 62 subscriptions onto locked cards in an afternoon. The next time a vendor emailed us about a breach, nothing broke.”

Best practices for rolling them out

Teams that get the most from vendor-locked cards usually move in three steps. They start with the subscriptions that matter most, then the long tail, then make locked cards the default for anything new.

• Export your current card statements and list every recurring merchant.

• Issue a locked card for each one and update the payment method with the vendor.

• Cancel the old shared card once every subscription has moved over.

• Turn on the policy that requires a locked card for any new software purchase.

Most teams finish the move in a single afternoon, and the visibility that comes with it often pays for itself: it’s common to find tools that nobody has used in months.