A card without the plastic
A virtual card is a card number (PAN) generated on demand, with no physical card, for online payments or business-to-business settlements. The number is configurable and disposable, whereas a plastic card keeps the same PAN until it is reissued. A company creates one number per supplier, order, or subscription, with a set limit, currency, and lifetime, then lets it expire.
The principle is similar to tokenization. Instead of exposing the number of a reusable physical card everywhere, the issuer generates an identifier dedicated to a single purpose: merchant-locked, capped, and often single-use. An intercepted number is declined at any merchant other than the one it is locked to. For a finance team, the tool controls spending as much as it limits fraud.
Three B2B use cases
| Enforcement | Effect | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Amount limit | Declines anything above €X | Match the number to the exact invoice amount |
| Single use / multi-use | Number valid for one payment only | One-off supplier payment |
| Validity window | Active only from day D to day D+n | Prevent a dormant number from being used later |
| Merchant / MCC lock | Accepts only one merchant or one category | Ad platforms, SaaS, travel |
| Required currency | Blocks payments in any other currency | Control over FX fees |
| Internal reference (PO) | Number tied to a purchase order | Automatic reconciliation in the books |
Level 2 and Level 3 data lower interchange costs
In B2B payments, enhanced data is the descriptive information about a purchase that a card payment message carries on top of the amount. The card networks define three levels. Level 1 is the basic transaction (amount, date, merchant), while Level 2 adds the tax amount, a customer code, and a purchase order number. Level 3 goes down to the line item: description, quantity, unit price, product code, and shipping. Pricing follows these levels. Issuers treat transactions that carry purchase details as lower risk, so reduced interchange applies to commercial cards and large-ticket payments.
| Level | Data added | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Amount, date, merchant name | Standard rates, no pricing benefit |
| Level 2 | Tax amount, customer code/PO, tax ID | Reduced interchange on commercial cards |
| Level 3 | Line-item detail: item, quantity, unit price, product code, shipping charges, ship-to zip code | Lowest interchange (large tickets, government procurement) |
{
"purchase_order": "PO-2026-04817",
"tax_amount": 240.00,
"currency": "EUR",
"line_items": [
{
"description": "14-inch laptop",
"product_code": "LT-14-PRO",
"quantity": 4,
"unit_price": 950.00,
"line_total": 3800.00,
"commodity_code": "43211503"
},
{
"description": "USB-C docking station",
"product_code": "DK-USBC-01",
"quantity": 4,
"unit_price": 120.00,
"line_total": 480.00,
"commodity_code": "43211708"
}
],
"freight_amount": 0.00,
"ship_to_zip": "75009"
}- Security: a disposable, capped, locked number sharply reduces the fraud surface compared with a shared physical corporate card.
- Reconciliation: a unique PAN tied to a purchase order makes matching almost automatic. No more manual reconciliation, invoice by invoice.
- Spend control: each team gets its own numbers with its own rules, without multiplying plastic cards or out-of-pocket expense claims.