Virtual cards are one often overlooked payment option that have the potential to streamline day-to-day operations for SMEs and are also efficient and cost-effective. One such example is the virtual Mastercard-enabled World Card, which was recently introduced by Ant International’s WorldFirst and is aimed at supporting SMEs involved in international commerce. The World Card, developed in partnership with Mastercard, enables businesses to make payments in more than 150 currencies across 210 countries and regions. WorldFirst has also waived foreign exchange fees for payments made from a WorldFirst account in 15 major currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP and JPY.
The World Card will also provide additional features such as transparent and centralized multi-card management, which will enable businesses to create multiple cards for different expense categories or teams and track all spending from one centralized dashboard. World Card also provides enhanced security through the use of 3DS and AVS transaction verification, 24/7 real-time support, and customizable spending limits. Customers of World Card can also benefit from cashback rewards on eligible payments. World Card will be rolled out to markets across Asia, Europe, Oceania and Africa throughout 2025, with the likely introduction of a physical card, along with support for Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Virtual cards are not new to the market, however their uptake has been quite slow until around 2020, when the pandemic increased online shopping and virtual cards were shown to be a cost-effective method to address the risk of fraud. Virtual cards utilize security features like dynamic CVV and tokenization, and it is easy to freeze or delete them in the event of suspicion of fraudulent activity. Moreover, unlike traditional cards that require detailed contracts with banks, virtual cards provide significantly more flexibility as they can be set up and managed remotely through a dashboard or an app and customized to the specific needs of the business.
Even with the launch of real-time payment linkages taking the headlines, it is important to keep in mind that many of these linkages are bilateral connections, typically with neighboring markets. In reality, many of these linkages are also not yet able to function at the service level that an SME doing cross-border transactions requires. In some cases, transactions fail to be processed because the systems are unable to handle the surge in payment volumes during peak periods. Thus, with virtual cards quickly gaining acceptance as a viable alternative for transacting globally, SMEs will benefit from having more options to choose from.