May 18, 2025 · 11 mins read
Santosh Kumar
When the world turned digital, it brought many benefits to consumers. Gone are the days when one had to travel to another corner of a city, or to a neighbouring town, to buy their favourite things. Now, people can get access to all brands and products at the convenience of their homes, irrespective of their locations. They could do so much more virtually. So, one of the most unique things that the digital age conceived, is online shopping, and furthermore, the concept of a virtual credit card.
Virtual credit cards come in handy in tackling one of the biggest menaces of online transactions, fraud. Although online shopping has brought great convenience on the one hand, on the other hand, the risk of exposure to fraudsters is also looming large. Not all shopping portals are safe, and there's always a chance of your credit card information falling into the wrong hands. And even if you are cautious on every step, these new-age tricksters are always a step ahead. Virtual credit cards can be your best bet in such times.
As the name implies, unlike the physical debit or credit card, virtual credit card does not come in a physical form, i.e., you can only use it for online shopping and not for the over-the-counter purchases. Virtual credit card is a randomly generated 16-digit number, which is associated with your debit account and it is often allotted by the banks or the third-party firms.
Before you apply virtual credit card, here are a few things you should remember:
1: To avail of a virtual credit card, it is important to have a primary credit card.
2: Since virtual credit cards are designed for online transactions, you cannot use them to withdraw cash.
The utility of virtual credit cards in physical stores is limited. Therefore, you cannot make purchases at outlets/shopping malls with a virtual credit card.
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Step one to apply virtual credit card is checking and matching the eligibility criteria. Check if your credit card provider also provides virtual credit cards. If yes, then go through their eligibility criteria list, along with all the traditional requirements like minimum revenue generation, cash flow levels, payback capacity, etc. Some banks or providers also look at business size, put a mandate to purchase one physical credit card to get virtual credit cards, etc.
The eligibility criteria of a virtual credit card differ vastly from those of a traditional credit card:
1: First of all, there is no need for a credit history to avail a virtual credit card.
2: You also don't need to present proof of income while generating your virtual credit card.
3: All resident Indian customers, NRE customers and foreigners registered for the net banking channel access are eligible for the virtual credit card.
4: They also must have at least one valid current/savings account with the concerned bank.
There are various virtual credit card providers in the country. Your business can get virtual credit cards from banks like SBI and HDFC, or you can go for other providers like Volopay. VCC given by banks is linked to your actual physical credit card. These cards aren’t directly linked to your bank account. Plus, virtual corporate cards given by Volopay come along with many spend control features and a comprehensive dashboard that provides all transaction-related information on the spot in real-time.
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To apply for a virtual credit card in India, your business has to ensure that it has a few documents in place. Also, ensure that the application is submitted on time. The required documents for a virtual credit card are as follows:
1: Identity proof of the business owner/stakeholders and a signature. These proofs must be official government-accepted documents or IDS like Aadhaar cards, driver's licenses, PAN cards, passports, voter IDS, etc. The signatures of the owners and stakeholders are matched against these ID proofs.
2: Address Proof of the business owner. You need to have official documents stating your address, and the identities submitted can be used as backup proof to check the authenticity of the details in the application.
3: GST certificate & GST number of the business. Every tax-paying business in India is given a GST certificate and number that needs to be mentioned in the process of applying for a virtual credit card.
4: CIN Number. When your business gets registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a unique CIN is assigned to every business. You can get MCA registered through the Registrar of Companies (ROC).
5: Bank account statements for the last 6 months. This statement is required to check and analyse the business’s spending patterns and capacity.
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Once you submit all the required documents within the given time frame, all you have to do is sit and wait for the card issuer’s decision.
Here is a list of virtual credit card solutions available in India:
HDFC Bank provides a free virtual credit card solution called Netsafe to its customers. This virtual payment service can be enabled for online shopping transactions made using your credit cards.
Key features
1: can be generated for free without any hassle
2: keeps your actual credit card information safe
3: The monthly statement is reflected in your original credit card statement
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Axis Bank provides a free virtual credit card called eshop to its users. you can generate an eshop credit card after registering your credit card details with the axis bank official website.
Key features
1: The e-shop card is visa-based, no Mastercard option available
2: The validity period is 48 hours
3: The monthly statement will be reflected in your original credit card statement.
ICICI bank issues a virtual credit card as an add-on card on the cardholder's primary card. The credit card limit on the ICICI virtual card is set by the user, depending on the limit on his primary card.
key features
1: A zero-cost card, which means the bank does not charge any amount on the issuance of the card
2: Like any other credit card, the ICICI virtual card is an international visa card and can be used for all kinds of international transactions as well.
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SBI also provides a virtual credit card to its customers, which can be generated from their official website.
Key features
1: the maximum spending limit is ₹5,00,000.
2: It is not enabled for international transactions
3: Only SBI corporate credit card users can make free-of-cost international transactions using a visa-based credit card
4: Make your SBI credit card payment on CRED to earn exclusive rewards and cashback.
Kotak netc@rd is not technically a virtual credit card, but it works in a similar way to a virtual credit card. You can generate a unique card number for domestic and international transactions.
key features
1: All the features are the same as a virtual credit card
2: The virtual credit card is visa-based, no Mastercard option available
3: You can make use of Kotak netc@rd for a Netflix subscription too
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Virtual credit cards are not in any physical form like your regular debit or credit cards. This makes cloning difficult and transactions secure. Further, although the virtual card is connected with your debit account, your actual debit card number is not used for the online transaction. This makes your virtual credit card free of major fraud risks, thereby keeping the fraudsters at bay.
Virtual credit card is a limited time card, that is, it is valid to use only for an approved number of transactions and also, for a limited time period only. Apart from this, virtual credit cards use small credit top ups. So, your money in the bank account is actually safe. Kotak Mahindra Bank offers you Netc@ard, a virtual credit card with a validity of maximum 48 hours. This validity can be changed by the bank from time to time.
If for some reason the allotted validity of the virtual credit card ends before the utilisation of your entire amount, then the remaining amount will be sent back to the account from where the card was created. Also, if you don't use the full amount added to your virtual credit card, then that will be transferred back to your bank account as well.
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Virtual credit cards can be used for online transactions only. Just like any other debit or credit card, you have to simply enter your card details and CVV.
1: Go to the merchant's website and select the product you wish to purchase.
2: Select the payment mode as “Debit Card” (VISA).
3: Then log in to the Kotak Net Banking and select the “netc@rd” tab. Upon receiving the OTP, click on “Generate Card”.
4: After that, select the account and enter the amount in numbers to generate your free virtual credit card.
5: Congratulations! Your card has been created. Your “Card No.”, “CVV2 value” and the “Expiry Date” will be displayed on the screen.
6: Please enter the virtual credit card details on the merchant payment page and confirm the payment. That’s it, you’re done!
A virtual credit card works like a debit or credit card with reference to the online transactions only. But since there is no physical card created, you cannot use it in places where a physical card is required.
Also keep in mind that virtual credit cards are usually single-time use and cannot be reloaded. Cash withdrawals and mail order or telephone order purchases are not possible.
You can top up your virtual credit card with as much money as you need to make the desired payment. But keep in mind that usually virtual credit cards have a very small credit limit. It comes with a regular 16-digit number, an expiry date, and CVV1 or CVV2 numbers.
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No, since virtual credit cards do not have any physical existence, you cannot use them for offline or POS transactions. They can only be used to transact online.
If you have decided to apply for any particular virtual credit card, contact the bank or the NBFC that is offering the card and ask them to guide you on the application process.
No, at present, virtual credit cards are issued only to primary cardholders and not to add-on cardholders. However, to know the exact status, check with the card issuer once.
Whether you can use your virtual credit card for international transactions or not depends on the issuer of the card. So, contact the card issuer and inquire about the same.
Usually, most virtual card issuers don’t charge their customers for issuing a virtual credit card. However, contact the card issuer and inquire about the same.
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