Why now is the time to use virtual credit cards

In today’s rapidly evolving online transaction environment, virtual credit cards (VCCs) are replacing plastic and simplifying cash flow management. According to Juniper Research, virtual card transactions amounted to $1.9 trillion in 2021, and that number is expected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2026.

Virtual card payments offer distinct advantages over traditional plastic, including enhanced security, streamlined bookkeeping, and ease of use.

What Is a Virtual Credit Card?

A virtual credit card is a uniquely generated 16-digit card number that serves as a proxy for a plastic card and links to an established credit card account. Since each VCC is randomly generated and masks sensitive account data, they are ideal for card-not-present and remote transactions—such as payments made online or by phone.

Safe

Conducting transactions with plastic credit cards—whether online, over the phone, or in person—can expose critical financial information.

With a virtual credit card, the one-time-use card number does not reveal actual account data in the event of a breach. VCCs also come with robust controls that allow you to:

• Limit use to a particular vendor
• Set a maximum purchase amount
• Define a usage window with an expiration date

In the unlikely event a VCC is compromised, fraudsters cannot use the temporary number due to these built-in controls—and they have no access to the actual credit card account.

Smart

Pre-set spending limits—used for one-time purchases or balances earmarked for specific expenditures—enhance financial control and oversight.

VCCs provide the same flexibility as plastic but with several key advantages:

• Simplified accounting with streamlined reconciliation
• Customizable daily reports that detail expenditures in real time
• Full transaction transparency through the VCC provider’s platform

You can easily review transaction details, track funds, and implement spending guardrails by controlling which employees can issue VCC payments. This ensures employee outlays stay within authorized thresholds, with the ability to assign different spending caps per user.

Simple

VCCs allow for fast, secure payments to suppliers and vendors while providing full transparency in spending. Each payment contains granular data—including date, amount, supplier, and item—that helps you track transactions and identify trends.

They’re also easy for your staff to use. With ConnexPay, the virtual card issuance process is straightforward:

1. Log in to the platform
2. Enter payment details (supplier, purchase type, spending cap, expiration, etc.)
3. Click to generate the 16-digit VCC and send the payment

It’s that simple.

Are You Ready to Go Virtual?

In addition to issuing virtual cards, ConnexPay also provides merchant-acquiring services. In fact, ConnexPay is the first and only company to bring together both sides of the payment process—merchant acceptance and virtual card issuing—into a single platform with one contract and one reconciliation.

If you’re an e-commerce intermediary or an online marketplace, now is the time to explore how our platform can help you:

• Safely accept payments from customers
• Issue secure virtual cards in real time
• Speed up reconciliation
• Reduce fraud

Let ConnexPay be your all-in-one solution for seamless, secure, and modern payment processing.