The benefits of virtual debit cards
Virtual payment cards are gaining more traction these days, and they have some rather positive implications for how you do business. Let's review the core benefits of virtual payment cards and virtual debit cards and the impact they can have on your business.
What are virtual debit cards?
As the name suggests, virtual debit cards are debit or credit cards that are created entirely online. They’re a randomly-generated 16-digit number, complete with a card verification number and expiry date. They act in the same way traditional credit cards do—without the need for a physical card. They’re issued by Mastercard, Visa, or American Express, and are accepted anywhere credit cards are usually accepted.
But how these cards differ is in their operation, and ease of use.
Instead of relying on your bank, you’re in control. You’re able to choose the currency you need, set a spending limit for the card, and define the merchant types where the card can be used.
Virtual payment cards are streamlining the way payments are made for both suppliers and vendors, and there are a number of compelling benefits for your business.
Five big virtual card benefits
Staff empowerment
Virtual cards can be issued to multiple team members who are required to make payments for their business on a daily basis. So instead of hounding your manager or accounts department for access to the one single physical card to make a payment (or going through the onerous paperwork to get a corporate card yourself), staff can be issued with individual virtual payment cards that are unique to them.
As a manager, you can set the spending limits on each virtual card, which means you keep a firm hold on your budget when making business payments, and your teams know exactly how much they have available to spend.
Eliminating payment bottlenecks means your business can move at a much faster pace by allowing the purchasing of new software and equipment without delays. When executed correctly, purchase requests no longer need to sit in pending for weeks while your staff sit idle awaiting the green light to make the purchase. With their own virtual payment card, they can do so instantly, while you maintain full control.
Advanced accountability
Another important virtual debit card benefit is the improved oversight and accountability you receive over your business’ money. You can assign virtual payment cards to specific suppliers or vendors and you always know where your money is going, and why. All purchases made with virtual cards are automatically processed, labelled and accounted. In this way, you can view all your payments regularly and accurately.
There's a huge advantage here. You can reduce the amount of hours spent chasing expense receipts by your accounts department. With each payment being allocated to the exact staff member who made the purchase, it's easy to trace back and reconcile the transaction. Accounting team can go back to what they do best, forecasting and providing financial advice on the future of your business.
More Secure
The most important virtual debit card advantage is the improved level of security you receive. Virtual payment cards are perfect for making safe, secure online payments. Because they are not physical things and this makes them impossible to be cloned. In addition, these cards have a chance to be created for single use. In this way, it expires as soon as it is used. Thus, it eliminates all negative possibilities regarding security.
Although the use of virtual payment cards instead of physical cards has increased security, the precautions should not be neglected. Even if the card is virtual, precautions should be taken without forgetting that the money is real. Quality virtual cards are generally issued by trusted card providers such as Visa and Mastercard, so payments are offered the same fraud checks and security features as the rest of their card network as well. Paying attention to the people you share your card information with will be enough to keep your virtual card safe.
Give a chance to “wamo” virtual cards for your business
Wamo is a fintech company founded in the UK, which provides everyday businesses with the opportunity to use virtual cards and offers many advantages.