What Is a Virtual Card?

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What is a virtual card? It’s a card number that lives only in your banking app—no plastic, just a 16-digit PAN (Personal Area Network), expiry and CVC (Card Verification Code) you can spin up (and delete) in seconds. Use it online or in-store via your phone, hide your real card and lock spend to the penny. That’s the entire promise of a virtual debit card in three lines.

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1. Virtual Cards at a Glance

“Digital-only” cards have rocketed from fringe tech to mainstream. Analysts expect global virtual-card transaction value to exceed £13 trillion by the end of the decade. In the UK, annual growth already tops 20 % as shoppers flock to safer, tokenised payments.

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2. What Exactly Is a Virtual Card?

A virtual card is a payment credential that:

• Lives purely in code—no plastic, no embossing
  
  

• Has a 16-digit PAN, expiry date and CVC you can copy or autofill
  
  

• Links to any funding source (debit, credit or prepaid)
  
  

• Is tokenised, so merchants never see your real card number
  
  

• Can be single-use, merchant-locked or multi-use—you decide
  
  

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3. How Do Virtual Cards Work? (Plain-English Walk-through)

1. App generates a token – Your bank or Curve Pay asks Visa/Mastercard for a brand-new PAN.
   
   

2. Details appear instantly – You see the PAN, expiry and CVC in-app; add to Apple Pay / Google Pay with one tap for contactless use.
   
   

3. Merchant charges the token – The online store only ever “touches” the virtual data.
   
   

4. Network maps token → real card – Settlement happens behind the scenes; your main card stays invisible.
   
   

5. Optional controls – Lock spend to £50, one merchant, or a date range; freeze or delete any time.
   
   

Speed stat: most UK banks spin up a virtual card in under 15 seconds, versus several days for a replacement plastic to arrive.

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4. Market Adoption & Growth Outlook

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5. Why Virtual Cards Beat Plastic

5.1 Security & Privacy

• Unique PAN per merchant—data breach doesn’t matter.
  
  

• Fraud rate is roughly one-tenth that of physical cards.
  
  

• Delete or freeze instantly.
  
  

5.2 Spend Control & Budgeting

• Hard caps—e.g. £200/month grocery subscription.
  
  

• Project tags—one PAN per client, easy reconciliation.
  
  

5.3 Subscription Defence

Cancel the card → the subscription dies automatically.

5.4 Faster Issuance & Eco Impact

Zero PVC, zero postage—skips ~22 g CO₂ per plastic card.

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6. Limitations & Work-arounds

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7. Who Uses Virtual Cards Right Now?

• E-commerce power shoppers wanting leak protection
  
  

• Parents setting teen spend caps
  
  

• Freelancers & SMBs tracking SaaS per client
  
  

• Travel managers handing per-trip budgets to staff
  
  

• Developers sandbox-testing payments without risking real PANs
  
  

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8. Virtual Cards vs Wallet Tokens (Apple Pay, Google Pay)

Many people combine both: create a virtual card in Curve Pay, then add it to Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Wallet for in-store taps.

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9. How to Get a Virtual Card in the UK (Step-by-Step)

1. Download Curve Pay (iOS / Android).
   
   

2. Add funding cards – Visa, Mastercard, Diners all welcome.
   
   

3. Tap “Create Virtual Card.” Give it a nickname, pick spend rules.
   
   

4. Add to phone wallet for contactless, or copy the PAN for online checkout.
   
   

5. Spend & monitor. Delete or freeze any time.
   
   

Other issuers—Revolut, Monzo, Starling, HSBC—offer virtual cards, but only Curve Pay lets you move a transaction up to 120 days later with Go Back in Time®.

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10. Curve Pay: Turning Virtual Cards into a Money OS

Curve Pay sits on top of every Visa, Mastercard and Diners card you already own. You receive one physical and digital Curve card, plus unlimited virtual cards, all controlled in a single app. That means you can pay with any underlying account you like while enjoying real-time spend rules, fee-free FX allowances and stacked cashback—all without ever revealing your main card numbers online.

Single-Use Debit Cards for Bill Payments – Curve’s Fronted lets Curve credit-card customers create single-use virtual debit cards to pay merchants that normally reject credit cards—think HMRC or NS&I. Each time you pay, a fresh card is generated and the previous one self-destructs, keeping fees low and card data even safer. Over 18 k customers have already completed 140 k+ Fronted transactions using this approach, and every payment still appears in your Timeline, supports Go Back in Time® and refunds exactly like a normal card spend .

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11. FAQs

Are virtual cards safe?
Yes—each merchant sees a unique PAN, and fraud rates are a fraction of plastic-card levels.

How do virtual cards work in-store?
Add the card to Apple Pay or Google Pay and tap your phone. The terminal sees it as any other contactless card.

Can I get a virtual debit card free of charge?
Most fintech apps (including Curve Pay) issue them instantly at no extra cost.

What happens if I need a refund on a deleted card?
Banks usually reroute it to your funding account; if not, they’ll credit you manually.

Is a disposable virtual card better for one-off purchases?
Absolutely—single-use cards self-destruct after checkout, blocking any future charge.

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TL;DR – Virtual Cards Made Simple

• Safer: ~9 × lower fraud than plastic.
  
  

• Faster: Spin up a card in seconds, checkout ~20 s quicker.
  
  

• Smarter: Merchant-locked PANs, spend caps, auto-cancel subscriptions.
  
  

Curve Edge: Instant cards, Smart Rules, Go Back in Time®, up to 20 % cashback—and now single-use debit cards for bill pay.

Read more about Curve Pay plans.