Large corporations have long reaped the benefits of virtual business cards – streamlining payments, managing cashflow, and controlling expenses. Now, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are catching on, realising that these tools can significantly reduce administrative time, enhance financial oversight, and boost operational efficiency.
As the name suggests, virtual cards are issued digitally and can be created instantly for specific purchases, employees, or suppliers, with built-in controls like spending limits, expiry dates, and merchant restrictions.
They’re already helping thousands of SMEs simplify how they pay, track, and manage their money, says Catherine Coulter, senior director of Visa Oceania.
“We’ve really seen them take off with SMEs as they realise how easy it is to use them to control, monitor, and streamline expenses for their workforce, including employees, apprentices, and subcontractors,” she says.
For example, business owners can use virtual cards to set precise budgets for various needs, such as filling up a car or buying incidental items. This shift moves away from traditional, often inefficient, methods like using personal funds or handing over cash.
It also reduces the risk of surprise, adds Coulter.
“It is not just another card in a digital wallet that provides access to your full transaction account,” she explains.
“Instead, you might allocate someone $100 a week for petrol, or other purchases. Any transactions that exceed the pre-set amount will automatically decline, preventing unexpected charges, particularly with recurring subscriptions.”.
Businesses are starting to appreciate that because they operate in near real-time, requests and approvals are seamless. Employees can request a specific amount for a purpose (for example, flights for a conference) via an app, which the business owner can review, approve, assign, and issue a virtual card in real-time, explains Coulter.
And, because they are powered by platforms like Visa, the virtual cards come with all of the benefits of the Visa network, such as fraud protection and security benefits, as well as merchant chargeback rights that provide protection if there are issues with the merchant, which is a benefit not always available with other payment methods. Visa works with a network of banks and fintech partners to deliver virtual card solutions tailored to small business needs.
“They also help mitigate risks associated with large payments to overseas suppliers that may be unfamiliar – it provides greater control and reduces the likelihood of unexpected charges because the card details have been stolen or compromised,” says Coulter.
While any business can benefit from using virtual cards, they are being tailored for specific industries — like marketing, travel, and logistics — to offer features that match real business needs.
“We’ve seen all kinds of SMEs using virtual cards successfully,” says Coulter.
“A small Australian homewares business uses them to empower staff to make purchases, a New Zealand-based importer uses virtual cards to pay overseas suppliers securely, and a digital marketing agency relies on them to track spend by client and avoid budget blowouts.”
Virtual cards can also be combined with expense management solutions. This means that when an employee or contractor of a small building company makes a purchase like buying materials for a job, they can take a photo of the receipt, code the transaction and then upload and push it directly into the cloud accounting platform.
“It really means less work for SMEs to go through those expenses and do that categorisation; it saves huge amounts of time and unnecessary headaches,” says Coulter.
Virtual cards are available through select Visa partners. Speak to your bank or financial provider to explore your options.
