What is a Virtual Corporate Card?

Gone are the days where money jangled or you would nervously pat that satisfying wad of cash in your pocket.

The plastic card entered our world and sparked much debate. But just as swiftly as we became comfortable with plastic cards - the next generation was born. And like each generation beforehand - we must ask - are virtual cards as good as their predecessors? Do they work as hard? Do they have as much grit… Do they walk 5km in the snow to get to school? (I digress).  

The Virtual Corporate Card. What are they? How do they work and are they to be trusted? All great questions. Let’s take a deeper look. 

Firstly, what is a virtual card? 

Virtual cards, or virtual payment cards are an easy to use and secure payment method that is being adopted by Australian businesses looking to streamline and control their expenses. 

A virtual card is simply a digital representation of a physical card. Virtual cards work the same way plastic cards do. The only difference is that they live in your smartphone instead of in your wallet.

Each virtual payment card is given a unique 16-digit card number, CVC and expiry date, and can be used to pay in-store and online wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

The key difference between a virtual payment card and a plastic card is that your virtual card is generated and stored on your mobile phone or internet browser.

Just like plastic cards, you can have credit cards and debit cards - some allow for you to withdraw money at ATMs and some allow you to purchase with credit. 

What is a Virtual Corporate card?

A virtual corporate pard works the same as a virtual card for personal use, however the underlying funds are the company funds.

Comparison: How virtual prepaid corporate cards differ from debit cards and credit cards.

What are the benefits of Virtual Corporate cards?

Protect the misuse of funds

Whilst many businesses want to replace the lengthy reimbursements process or the difficulties of distributing cash to either employees - but they don't want to give all employees access to a company card (virtual or otherwise). With Weel's Virtual Corporate cards you can efficiently distribute funds to employees to get their job done - but also some checks and balances to protect company funds from misuse. 

No lengthy bank paperwork

Weel's Corporate card allows you to create and distribute 1000s of cards within seconds but also enforce spending rules to restrict merchants and transaction amounts. 

Increase completion of expense reporting

Merchant info, GST, and expense categories are captured at the time of spending - so the employee need only take a photo and add a description and the expense reporting is complete. Plus it exports all this expense data into your accounting software.

Improved insight into business spending

Budgets and a real-time transaction feed ensure that you always know where and why business expenses are occurring.

Virtual Payment Cards Are Issued Instantly

Virtual payments cards can be generated online and issued to your staff members instantly. This means that your staff can start making payments from their phone or browser without having to visit a bank branch or wait for their card to arrive in the mail.

Virtual Payment Cards Help You Control Spending

Most virtual payment cards are prepaid cards. Prepaid cards are loaded with a specific amount of funds. This allows your staff to pay for what they need without requiring access to your entire bank account.

You can control your spending even further by creating a unique virtual payment card for each type of expense or merchant. Once you’re finished with a virtual payment card, you can easily delete it. This is a good way to control your spending on SaaS subscriptions.

Virtual Payment Cards Are More Secure

Your virtual payment card is more secure from fraud than a plastic card. Card details are secured behind your phone or computer password and security settings like two-factor authentication.

Mastercard and Visa can extend their protections to most virtual payment cards. Card transactions are protected against fraud and other unauthorised activity in accordance with Mastercard Zero Liability.

If you're worried a virtual payment card has been compromised, you can delete it and instantly replace it with a new one.

Are Virtual Corporate Cards safe?

Many people argue that they are safer, as it is often easier to notice if a virtual card has been compromised (plus you can delete it and instantly replace it with a new one.)

However, with any financial product, it is important to check your provider. We advise checking the provider:

• Is a PCI-DSS certified banking partner
• Uses 256-bit encryption to protect your information
• Uses fraud detection and AI technology to analyse user behaviour and block any suspicious activity

How do I transfer money to my virtual corporate card?

To transfer money into the online account linked to your virtual corporate card, you will need to do a bank transfer from your online bank account. You may also be able to set up a direct-debit to transfer funds into your account whenever your account balance is low.

Get a Virtual Corporate Card For Your Business

Weel is an award-winning virtual corporate card platform custom-built for Australian businesses. Weel allows you to instantly issue unlimited virtual payment cards, control spending via budgets and spending rules, and automate your expense reporting. All from one simple mobile and web app.

Learn how Weel's virtual payment cards can help your business by scheduling a demo or by reading more here.