Virtual payment cards are a relatively new payment method that is rapidly gaining popularity. It comes in equally handy for private and corporate users. From this article, you’ll get to know about the benefits of this type of card and the opportunities to get them.

What is a Virtual Payment Card?

Virtual payment cards are digital analogs of conventional debit or credit cards, made of plastic. They carry the same information as a physical bank card: card number, expiration date, and CVV code. Some cards also contain the names of their owners, while others don’t.

How can you use Virtual Payment Cards?

You can use such cards for online purchases and at the checkout from stores that accept payments using contactless technologies. You can also link them to Apple Pay, Google Pay, or other similar systems. Some cards enable their users to withdraw cash from ATMs.

You can store such cards in your digital wallet or mobile bank app. To protect your payment data, you can enable PIN, fingerprint, or face recognition technologies. The system can send you a notification each time someone makes a transaction using your card.

There are single-use cards and those that were designed for recurring use. The latter might require a regular subscription renewal (for instance, once per month). Single-use cards are considered the safest option. Even if a third party gets hold of your card, they won’t be able to use it after you have already carried out a payment.

Besides, there are prepaid gift cards that already contain a certain sum of money. Depending on the rules of your particular card, you might need to spend all this sum on one purchase — or you might be able to split it into several transactions. A gift card might be accepted only in a certain store or a network of stores. However, some prepaid cards can be used anywhere, just as regular credit cards.

Why are Virtual Payment Cards better than conventional ones?

Compared to plastic debit or credit cards, their virtual counterparts have multiple benefits.

• They don’t take up any space in your physical wallet, bag, or pocket.
• You can’t lose them. If you lose access to the system that stores your card’s data, you’ll be able to restore it. But no one can accidentally come across your card’s number and CVV.
• If you suspect that a hacker has got hold of your virtual card, you can quickly block it and get another one. You won’t need to close your account entirely and register a new one. You can have as many cards as your service provider permits. Some providers impose no limitations on the number of cards per user — but others do.
• Virtual credit cards might provide online retailers with dynamic information. Every time you pay with a virtual credit card, its verification data will be different, which adds an extra level of security to your transactions.

The above-listed advantages were relevant for all cardholders. Business owners should also appreciate the following merits of virtual cards.

Since each employee has his/her own card, you always know exactly who is spending your money, where, and how frequently. All the spending can be monitored from a centralized management platform.

Plus, you can set expense limits for each team member. If they need to exсeed this limit, they should consult their supervisors and get their approvals. All approvals can be tracked digitally, so you’ll always know which managers gave the approvals and their exact sums.

As you see, virtual payment cards offer excellent opportunities for managing your company’s finances.

How can one get a Virtual Payment Card?

You can get such a card either from a conventional bank or from an online service provider. Depending on where you order it, you might get it for free or with a small fee. Make sure to read the terms and conditions attentively because the rules of using virtual payment cards might differ significantly depending on the issuer.

If you rely on the services of an online provider, you should be able to get your card almost immediately after you apply for it. Compared to banks, providers typically act quicker and adjust more flexibly to their clients’ needs. You’ll appreciate it when you need to change the settings of your card, apply fo another card or enable additional services.

If you run a business, you might want to be able to issue individual virtual payment cards for your staff members. In this case, you should get an online tool that generates ready-to-use cards. Again, you can receive this tool from your bank or service provider.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article was informative enough and now you understand how virtual payment cards function. Once you try this payment method, you’ll quickly realize how easy, safe, and convenient it is.