Then, instead of pulling the company card out and typing in the details, they copy/paste in their virtual card's information. In simple terms, people with access to virtual cards get to the 'checkout' step of an online payment.
According to the Mercator Advisory Group, 'there will be $315.1 billion dollars a year in commercial purchasing with virtual cards' by 2021. Virtual cards appeared on the market a few years ago specifically to address the risk of fraud when shopping online (more on that soon).Īnd they're quickly growing in popularity. And employees using these cards can make payments with all the speed and ease of using a traditional credit card. A virtual card is usually prepaid, like a gift card, with a specific sum of money loaded onto it in advance. These cards only exist online, but carry the same information as a physical bank card: card number, expiration date, and CVV code.Įach card can be “single use” for an even higher level of security, or “recurring use” - for example in the case of a monthly subscription renewal.
