The future of digital payments is here.

Recently, there’s been an explosion in the use of virtual cards by businesses. According to Yahoo Finance, the virtual card market was $85 billion in 2015. In 2018, the market grew to $160 billion. By 2024, it’s predicted that the virtual card market will balloon to $500 billion. So what is causing this massive surge? What is a virtual prepaid card, and what are its advantages?

A virtual prepaid card is a digital payment device that acts just like a physical prepaid card, except it is used for online purchases and phone orders. Credentials are randomly-generated through a process called tokenization, and the cards come with built-in financial controls, allowing you to fund the card for either single use or multi-purpose payments.

Virtual prepaid cards improve the payments experience by making it safer, simpler, and smarter to make purchases online. Regardless of whether you are making or receiving the payment, virtual cards are improving the B2B payments and accounts payable processes in a variety of ways:

 1. Virtual Prepaid Cards Increase Transparency & Spend Visibility

Many small businesses have problems with expense management, especially when it comes to employee expenses. Small companies frequently rely on a single corporate credit card, which is then shared amongst employees. This can open up the business to a slew of problems with reconciliation, putting a strain on employer-employee relationships and hamstringing the business’ financial flexibility. Instead of having one plastic card connected to a corporate account, a business can instead generate an unlimited amount of virtual cards to cover a wide variety of needs, time periods, and monetary amounts.

Up-to-the-minute accounting and live reporting mean that the business owner will always have a clear idea of how much funds are available, what has been spent, and where the funds are going. All spending is approved and tracked in real time, so there’s no need for time-consuming tracking spreadsheets, invoices, budgets, or paper trails. Monthly reconciliations are ancient history with virtual prepaid cards!

 2. Virtual Prepaid Cards Streamline The Payments Process

Switching to virtual credit cards makes online purchasing safe and simple, and removes the risk of abuse. When shopping online, employees simply find an item they’d like to buy and send a request to their manager for approval. The manager then creates a virtual prepaid card for the amount requested and sends it to the employee, who puts the details into the payment page at checkout… And that’s it! The whole time, the company has complete visibility and control over the payments process, while the employee has the freedom and flexibility to make the purchase as usual.

With virtual cards, businesses can manage card numbers and balances on any computer or mobile device, anywhere in the world. Virtual prepaid cards are valid at any merchant where Visa® and MasterCard® is accepted, which provides customers with nearly unlimited buying options and flexibility.

Funds transfers are instantaneous and, unlike cheques or other outdated payment methods, the money can be spent immediately without having to wait. Automated accounts payable platforms simplify the payments process to just a few clicks.

 2. Virtual Prepaid Cards Are Safe & Secure

According to the Kroll Global Fraud Report, 51 percent of companies describe themselves as highly or moderately vulnerable to information theft. Juniper Research predicts that online fraud will reach $25.6 billion by 2020. Protecting online card information from thieves is a big deal.

With corporate credit cards, there is huge potential for abuse, theft, fraud, and monetary damage, especially cards with high limits. Virtual credit cards are appealing because they have exclusive security features:

• You can generate a new card number for each purchase, reducing the risk of fraud/theft to zero. The process only takes a few moments!
• Virtual cards cannot be lost/stolen because there is no physical card to lose, and the information is only stored online via access to a launch window
• Cards are not connected to a bank account or credit, so there is no risk of having your private information stolen
• VIrtual cards can be edited or deleted after use
• Companies can create as many cards as they want, for different merchants and employees

Virtual cards simplify payments processes, create new efficiencies, improve transparency, and eliminate fraud/security concerns. It’s easy to see why businesses are turning to virtual prepaid cards for their online purchasing needs.