What is a Virtual Corporate Card?
Virtual Corporate Cards 101: What are they and should they be trusted?
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 Card works the same as a virtual card for personal use, however the underlying funds are the company funds.
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 DiviPays 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
DiviPays 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. Businesses that use DiviPay are protected by Mastercard Zero Liability Protection scheme, which ensures that you are not liable for any unauthorised transactions on your account.
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
- Is an Authorised Deposit Taking Institution (ADI)
- Uses 256-bit encryption to protect your information (and store it within highly secure AWS data centres located in Australia).
- Uses fraud detection and AI technology to analyse user behaviour and block any suspicious activity
How do I transfer money to my virtual account?
To transfer money into your virtual account, you will need to do a bank transfer from your online bank account. You can also set up a direct-debit to transfer funds into your account whenever your account balance is low.
How To Get a Virtual Corporate Card For Your Business
DiviPay is an award-winning virtual corporate card platform custom-built for Australian businesses. DiviPay 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 DiviPay’s virtual payment cards can help your business by scheduling a demo or by reading more here.
FAQs
How does the DiviPay virtual corporate card work?
DiviPay’s virtual corporate cards, or virtual expense cards, work the same way plastic cards do, the only difference is that the virtual cards live on your phone instead of your wallet. The DiviPay virtual Mastercard is a reloadable virtual prepaid card that can be used anywhere online or in-store that Mastercard is accepted. To use your DiviPay cards you need to first have funds available in your DiviPay account.
How do I load funds into my DiviPay account?
Because DiviPay’s virtual corporate cards work like a prepaid expense card you will need to top-up your DiviPay account balance before spending. If your bank is NPP (New Payments Platform) enabled, your transfers will be almost immediate, otherwise, any funds transferred into your account balance before 4pm will settle on the same day. Direct debited funds will take between 3-5 working days to settle in your account balance.
How do I make a payment in-store using my virtual prepaid card?
The DiviPay virtual card loads directly into your mobile wallet. To make a payment in-store simply open Apple Pay or Google Pay and hold your mobile phone over the credit card reader, like you would with your normal tap and pay physical card.
How do I make a payment online using my virtual prepaid card?
Buying things online with a DiviPay virtual card works the same as your traditional bank card. From the DiviPay app simply tap pay online to reveal the card details and then copy and paste your Card Number, Expiry Date and CVC at the check-out page.
Does DiviPay replace my corporate credit card program?
Yes, the DiviPay virtual corporate card will replace your corporate credit card program. With DiviPay you can control your spending before it happens with our expense management system. Create budgets, control limits, make payments, review spending and automate reporting with DiviPay’s simple expense management software.
How long does it take for funds to become available on my virtual card?
Funds are immediately available on every team member's virtual prepaid card unless their card limit is insufficient or there are insufficient funds in the DiviPay account balance.
What is a corporate debit card?
Generally, a corporate debit card provides your organisation with the flexibility and information needed to manage employee business expenses. Company funds are preloaded onto the card for staff to use, and spending rules or purchase caps can be created to manage your budget. Prepaid virtual cards for business expenses save employees from having to spend their personal money on work-related travel and expenses, which are reimbursed at a later time. This eliminates financial stress and unnecessary process. Corporate debit cards can now be issued virtually, such as the DiviPay virtual corporate card, living entirely on your phone.
How does a virtual debit card work?
Virtual debit cards work in the same way that traditional debit cards do, however, there is no physical card. They still use the same CVC, expiry date and card number to allow you to make online or in-store purchases. Virtual debit cards also live entirely on your phone and are reloadable. For example, you can still make in-store payments on your virtual debit card through Apple Pay or Google Pay. For online purchases, use the card details on the check-out page. Traditionally virtual debit cards were only available to larger organisations, but our new DiviPay virtual prepaid card is available to small and medium businesses as well.
Copyright © 2017 - 2022 DiviPay Pty Ltd.
ABN 39 617 434 607. All rights reserved
This material is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend you consider the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) relating to this product before making any decision. This product is available only to Australian businesses and residents. Terms and conditions and fees and charges will apply to use of the Divipay Card. The Divipay Card is a prepaid, reloadable Mastercard issued by EML Payment Solutions Ltd ABN 30 131 436 532 AFSL 404131. Divipay Pty Ltd ABN 39 617 434 607 (Authorised Representative number 1269625) is involved in the promotion and distribution of the Divipay Card and is a Corporate Authorised Representative of EML Payment Solutions Ltd ABN 30 131 436 532. Mastercard and the Mastercard brand mark are registered trademarks, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. The Target Market Determination for this product can be found here.