TL;DR
If your team is paying for online tools, travel, subscriptions or ad-hoc purchases, knowing how to use a virtual card helps you stay secure, reduce fraud and keep spending visible. This guide explains how virtual cards work, how to use them online and in store, and practical controls for Australian organisations.
See how ProSpend Virtual Cards help control employee spend
What Is a Virtual Card?
A virtual card is a digitally generated debit or credit card with its own number, expiry date and CVV — but no physical plastic. It works anywhere standard card payments are accepted, including online checkouts and contactless terminals.
Watch: ProSpend Expenses and Virtual Cards
Who this guide is for (and the challenges you’re facing)
This guide is designed for CFOs, Finance Managers, AP leads and operational teams across Australia and New Zealand who manage digital payments, corporate cards or employee purchasing. You may be dealing with:
- Uncontrolled subscription spend across teams
- Shared corporate card numbers creating audit issues
- Fraud or accidental charges on physical cards
- Difficulty tracking employee-initiated online purchases
- Manual reconciliation across multiple tools or locations
Virtual cards offer tighter governance, cleaner data and easier compliance — without slowing your team down.
How virtual cards work (Australia & New Zealand)
Virtual cards behave like any normal debit or credit card. They include:
- A 16-digit card number
- A CVV
- An expiry date
- Optional: name/alias, limits, merchant restrictions, and validity dates
The difference is control: finance teams can generate cards instantly, limit their use, restrict merchants, define expiry, and shut them down immediately, without waiting for a bank to issue a new physical card.
How to use a virtual card online
Step 1 — Add items to your cart
Proceed to checkout as normal.
Step 2 — Select card payment
Most websites won’t show “virtual card”, so choose Pay with debit/credit card.
Step 3 — Enter card details
Input the:
- Virtual card number
- CVV
- Expiry date
- Billing address (if required. Use the address linked to the card)
Step 4 — Complete verification
You may receive a one-time PIN or app notification.
Step 5 — Finalise purchase
Once approved, the transaction appears immediately in your virtual card dashboard for reconciliation.
How to use a virtual card in store (contactless payments)
To use a virtual card in person, the merchant must support contactless (NFC) payments through Apple Pay, Google Wallet or similar.
Step 1 — Load the virtual card into your digital wallet
- Open your wallet app
- Select Add card
- Enter the virtual card details
- Follow your device’s verification prompts
Step 2 — Tap to pay at the terminal
- Open your wallet app
- Select the virtual card
- Hold your phone over the terminal
- Approve with Face ID, fingerprint or passcode
Once processed, the charge appears in your system immediately.
What can you use a virtual card for?
All the same things you’d use a physical card for, but with far more control:
- Online purchases
- Subscriptions and SaaS tools
- Travel bookings
- Supplier payments
- In-store contactless purchases
- Internal purchasing and team budgets
Finance teams gain visibility, and employees gain a secure way to purchase what they need.
How to get a virtual card
You can request a virtual card through:
- Banks and card issuers — typically linked to an existing account
- Bank-agnostic platforms — such as ProSpend, allowing you to issue unlimited virtual cards with strict controls, budgets, and real-time tracking
Most ANZ businesses prefer bank-agnostic systems because each virtual card can be tied to an employee, project, vendor or budget line.
Key rules and reminders for virtual card use (Australia)
- Set appropriate spending limits — avoid setting limits too close to expected spend; some merchants place temporary holds.
- Use the correct billing address/postcode when prompted for verification.
- Expiry date ≠ validity date — some virtual cards have start/end dates in addition to expiry.
- Deactivate unused cards to reduce risk.
- Use one card per subscription to simplify cancellation and reduce accidental renewals.
- Ensure GST documentation is captured for ATO compliance.
- Avoid card sharing — each user should have their own virtual card for audit accuracy.
Benefits for Australian and New Zealand organisations
- Reduce fraud risk with auto-expiring and single-use cards
- Improve compliance with clear audit trails
- Real-time visibility of all card transactions
- Faster reconciliation with integrated expense workflows
- Prevent unauthorised subscriptions
- Create cards instantly for projects, events or contractors
- Reduce dependence on shared physical cards
- Strengthen controls with merchant/category blocking
ProSpend Integrations and implementations
Virtual cards in ProSpend integrate seamlessly with:
- Xero
- MYOB
- NetSuite
- Business Central
- Acumatica
FAQs
1. Are virtual cards safe to use?
Yes. Virtual cards are often safer than physical cards. You can limit merchants, define budgets and shut down a card instantly if compromised. Learn more about ProSpend virtual cards here.
2. Can I use a virtual card for subscriptions?
Absolutely. Many organisations create one virtual card per subscription so they can cancel charges easily and avoid unknown renewals.
3. Do virtual cards work with Xero or MYOB?
When managed in ProSpend, every transaction syncs seamlessly into Xero, MYOB, NetSuite, Business Central or Acumatica with the right coding.
4. Can employees use virtual cards for travel?
Yes, virtual cards can be loaded into digital wallets and are ideal for hotels, flights and incidental spend, especially when limits and validity dates are applied.
5. What happens if a merchant places a pre-authorisation hold?
Your available balance temporarily decreases. Set limits with buffer space to avoid declined transactions during holds.
6. Do virtual cards work for international purchases?
Yes, as long as the merchant accepts standard card payments. Exchange rates and fees depend on the card issuer.
7. Can virtual cards be shared?
Sharing is strongly discouraged for audit and security reasons. Issue separate cards for each employee or purpose.
8. How fast can I create a new virtual card?
With ProSpend, it takes seconds — no bank delays, no physical card printing.
