Having a virtual card can always be a major advantageous financial tool, especially when it comes to making online transactions.
Unlike traditional bank cards, virtual cards value our privacy and reduce the risks of fraudulent transactions.
If you're in the UK and want a virtual credit, debit, or prepaid card, I have listed a few options below that suit all your needs.
What is a Virtual Card?
A Virtual Card is a randomly or temporarily generated 16-digit set of numbers that you can use for any activity online, such as free trials or shopping online. Virtual cards can be credit, debit or prepaid depending on the issuer. These virtual cards serve several purposes, as mentioned by the issuer.
Virtual cards give a lot of features that make them preferred at times over real virtual cards, of which the main aspect is security. Virtual cards can help prevent the real information on our physical cards from being stolen in data breaches or through unsecured connections from unsecured sites.
What Are The Best Virtual Card Providers In The UK?
There's just a handful of virtual card providers in the UK, but below, we have spotted out the best virtual card providers in the UK. We have ranked them by features and efficiency in their services.
1. Revolut
Revolut is one of the most popular and used virtual card providers in the UK, with an average of about 15 million personal customers and over 500,000 business customers. Launched in 2015, it has since expanded across the world, with over 100 million transactions a month taking place.
Revolut has four different pricing plans, with more features included with additional monthly fees.
- The Standard account is free,
- The Plus account is £2.99 a month,
- The Premium account is £6.99 a month and
- The Metal account is £12.99 a month.
The basic card is free; you can open an account within minutes via the Revolut App.
Features
- Instant payment notifications
- Rounding up transactions to the nearest pound
- Spend and send money abroad for a low fee
- Set up recurring payments
- You can categorise your spending
- Up to £1000 a year free insurance on purchases (Plus account)
- 90-day return window (available for Plus account)
- Savings Vault for pots of savings (available for Plus account)
- Worldwide travel insurance (available for Premium account)
- Unlimited foreign exchange (available for Premium account)
- Disposable virtual cards (available for Premium account)
- Earn cashback on certain purchases and access to special offers (available only for a Metal account)
2. Monese
Secondly is Monese, which is another virtual card opened and operated via their mobile application. You will be delivered a physical card, and then customers will be able to set up a virtual card depending on your currency. Equally, you can choose to pay with a physical card or with Apple or Google Pay.
It is free to move money between different Monese accounts, with a small fee to transfer funds to other bank accounts of various banks located both in the UK and internationally.
Features
- Free payments and transfers within the UK
- Save money in up to 10 pots
- Cash deposits at any Post Office or PayPoint
- Set up recurring payments
- Send money internationally for free (Premium plan) or a small fee (Simple and Classic plans)
- Budgeting tools – Set goals, record expenses, detailed transaction alerts, categorise payments
- Security – Log in with Face ID, Touch ID or Fingerprint Scanner, one-time codes texted to you for every online purchase
- ATM withdrawals – £200 on the Simple plan, £900 on the Classic plan and unlimited on the Premium plan
- Foreign currency card spending – £2,000 free on the Simple plan (2% fee over that), £9,000 free on Classic plan (2% fee over that), unlimited with no fee on Premium plan
3. Skrill
Skrill is slightly different to both Revolut and Monese. It is a payment system with some similarities to PayPal, and it is used for safe and secure online payments. Skrill offers a virtual prepaid card, precisely Mastercard prepaid cards, for one-off or ongoing transactions, but it also has a physical Mastercard product.
Skrill offers three account-level types.
- Skriller – The basic account is assigned to anyone who sets up an account
- True Skrillers – Fully verified customers, must have deposited via credit/debit card or bank account, have downloaded and logged into the mobile app
- VIP Skrillers – Additional features, premium rewards, lower fees, can have multi-currency accounts, a free physical card (this account also has silver, gold and platinum levels within it for even more offers/rewards).
Features
- Security – Make purchases and cancel your card anytime you no longer need it
- Account Control – You can decide how long you would like the card to be valid for
- Online-only usage, not valid offline or at ATMs
- Free transactions – Purchases, receiving money into your account, sending money to international banks using transfers
- Loyalty program (Knect) – Earn points for transactions and trade them for cash rewards
- Can buy and sell cryptocurrency
4. iCard
The iCard Visa debit account is run by the Bulgarian National Bank. With the basic account, you receive one free physical card as well as one free virtual card.
iCard shares a similarity with Skrill with three account types:
- Standard – Free account, comes with a physical card, free transfers to other iCard account holders, one virtual card allowed, fully online bank, pay with Apple Pay
- Infinite (€9.99 a month) – All of the above, as well as free travel insurance abroad, 24/7 support via the app, and Visa offers
- Metal (€13.99 a month) – All of the above, as well as up to 1% cashback on transactions, unlimited ATM cash withdrawals, and extra offers
Features
- Used in over 30 European countries
- Supports 7 currencies – GBP, US Dollars, Euros, Swiss Franc, Romanian Lei, Bulgarian Lev and Croatian Kuna. You can have multiple virtual cards in one account, but you can order more physical cards in other currencies if need be.
- Digitise your loyalty cards so they’re all in one place
- Their virtual cards can be used for any transaction – Services, subscriptions, one-off purchases
- Receive notifications of transactions and set spending limits
- Freeze and unfreeze your cards in the app
- Security – Fingerprint login to access your account on your mobile device
- Pay with Apple or Google Pay
5. US Unlocked
If you are located in the UK but love American-made sites or credit card providers, then US Unlocked could be the virtual card solution for you.
This virtual prepaid card is designed to bypass extra fees that UK banks charge for overseas transactions and allow customers to reduce their fees for delivery when buying from the US.
US Unlocked works with reshipping partners as well as VPNs to allow you to receive US products and services in the UK.
There are fees for initial opening ($15) and loading (currently $3.50 plus 3.5%), $0.50 per transaction and a $3.50 monthly maintenance fee; however, this can still be cheaper than the exchange rates on UK-based bank charges.
If you are in the US, then US Unlocked will be equally an option for you.
Take a look at the full review on US Unlocked.
Features
- Apply with a government-issued ID for verification online
- Set up a virtual card for each vendor or purchase, including subscriptions
- Set spending limits for businesses or categories
- Pause subscriptions from the mobile app
- Given a US billing and shipping address
- They are currently working on a browser extension for desktop
Can I use these Virtual Cards on PayPal?
Yes, all the above-listed virtual card providers support PayPal linking, and they will work just perfectly with PayPal and many other sites.
Can I use these Virtual Cards on Netflix for free trials?
Yes. When issued your virtual credit card from these providers, you can get a free trial Netflix account without borders.
How to Get a Virtual Credit Card without a Bank Account?
You might think it is not possible to get a virtual credit card without a bank account, but it is possible. We have highlighted the best ways to get a virtual credit card without a bank account.
How to Get a Virtual Credit Card for PayPal Verification?
PayPal requires a working card that supports debit to verify its validity to use with PayPal. To get a PayPal virtual card, check out the section below on how to get a virtual card for PayPal verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to get a virtual UK credit card?
Because virtual cards are only available through digital banks in the United Kingdom, you will likely need to establish one through your provider's app. Typically, there will be a "cards" area within the program that will allow you to rapidly generate at least one virtual card.
Which UK banks have virtual cards?
Wise, Monese, Revolut, Monzo and Skrill are all financial institutions that offer virtual cards.
Final Thoughts
Virtual cards are better options in terms of security and management controls. You will have the possibility to fully control your cards as you wish. Though virtual cards are good, it is always important to carry out research for the best virtual cards to use in your location, find out their various features and see if there are fees to pay and see whether you can afford them before applying for the application of the virtual cards.
Know that if in case these virtual card providers happen to fall, your money might go with it. So it is not a good idea to store your money in these virtual cards because none of them are covered by FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).
If you are someone who loves having all your things done on your phone, then virtual cards are the best for you because you will be able to manage your account and money on your mobile device. They offer additional options for you to manage your virtual card, such as setting a spending limit, freezing, pausing, or even deleting the card. Consider checking out all of these virtual card providers below and see the best that suits you, basing yourself on the features they offer.
