One option that is increasingly on corporates’ radar is virtual cards, which offer highly sought-after capabilities around payment automation. The compelling efficiencies afforded by virtual cards are responsible for the exponential growth this payment method is predicted to enjoy over the next five years. The global value of virtual card transactions is expected to increase from $1.9 trillion in 2021 to an astronomical $6.8 trillion by 2026¹.

A recent RFI Group study titled Capitalizing on the potential in virtual cards and conducted on behalf of Visa, found that virtual cards are becoming an important option for businesses across the globe. In Australia, 54 percent of businesses that already use purchasing cards find virtual cards appealing. This figure is even higher (at 60 percent) for businesses who do not currently use purchasing cards. In other regions, namely Canada and the U.S., where corporates already use purchasing cards, the appeal for virtual cards goes up dramatically; 74 and 93 percent of businesses respectively indicated they find virtual cards an attractive option².

This growing awareness and interest for virtual card use amongst corporates represents a sizeable opportunity for issuers looking to deepen relationships with their business customers. By focusing on the many enticing benefits of virtual cards, issuers can position themselves to improve relationships with existing customers and future B2B clients.

The many virtues of going virtual in B2B payments

Arguably the most compelling reason to make the switch to virtual cards comes down to security. By their nature, virtual cards eliminate the risks associated with issuing plastic, hence reducing potential for loss, theft, or compromised data; not to mention making compliance and auditing simpler. Additionally, because virtual card numbers can be issued for both single use or multiple related purchases and can be limited to specific suppliers, the risk of fraud is significantly reduced too.

A second major benefit of virtual cards is efficiency – a leading focus area for most organizations and a key concern for business owners. Virtual cards can help improve organizational efficiency by allowing payments to be fully automated, whether they are recurring or ad-hoc. They also enable automated reconciliation for invoice or on-demand payments and employee spend, hence minimizing the time and resources spent on doing these tasks manually.

Another closely linked benefit of virtual cards is transparency. This payment method offers corporates centralized, customizable data on every transaction, which can inform decisions going forward. Virtual cards also offer the ability to align invoice settlement with preferred workflows to effectively manage working capital easing the burden on finance teams and business owners alike.

Accelerating the adoption of virtual cards, globally

As virtual cards make their presence more commonplace, issuers have a great opportunity to get ahead of the curve and drive uptake by talking to their corporate clients about their comprehensive benefits. Messaging should be targeted around features which matter most to current and prospective virtual cardholding businesses. But beyond this, our research uncovered industry verticals and business types most likely to make the shift to virtual cards.