Payment fraud is on the rise, with 80% of organizations reporting that they were victims of payment fraud attacks and attempts last year. That’s the highest rate reported since 2018. While checks continue to be the most vulnerable payment method, fraudsters also commonly steal credit card information. Moreover, fraudsters’ use of AI and deep-fake scams further escalates the importance of vigilance for companies and AP departments in all payment-related matters.
Digital fraud has become a major pain point among businesses, with 44% of small to midsize businesses most concerned about unauthorized transactions or unauthorized electronic fund transfers. However, larger established organizations aren’t safe against these cyber attacks either.
American Express experienced a third-party data breach in March, following a successful attack on one of their merchant processors. UnitedHealth Group was forced to pay out more than $3.3 billion to providers affected by its cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare, and Spanish airline, AirEuropa, also experienced a massive hack in October 2023. These payment fraud attacks, data breaches, and consistent headlines emphasize the need to protect payments, especially for organizations sharing payment information with third parties.
Companies are now moving towards more secure payment methods, such as virtual cards, to protect their business-to-business (B2B) payments. Market research firm, Juniper Research, says that virtual cards will be the fastest-growing B2B payment method by transaction value globally by 2028. It forecasts that virtual card transactions will increase 276%, growing from $3 trillion in 2024 to $11 trillion by 2028. This exponential growth is driven by increasing digitization and the demand for secure payment solutions and increased efficiency.
What is a virtual card and how does it work?
One of the primary ways data breaches occur is through the compromise of centralized databases storing static payment information. Virtual cards, also referred to as virtual credit cards, eliminate this vulnerability by generating a new number dynamically for each transaction or unique supplier, ensuring enhanced security, control, and payment visibility. This makes them significantly more secure than traditional physical credit cards with static numbers stamped on them.
Virtual card numbers or tokens are randomly generated, and are tied to a primary credit card account, so that the actual card information is not revealed during transactions. Virtual cards are essentially a digital-only, encrypted version of a business credit card, used for specific transactions, vendors, or time periods. Adopting virtual cards for B2B payments is a proactive approach to mitigate fraud risks and enhance transaction security.
Risks of not using virtual cards
Not using virtual credit cards exposes businesses to several increased risks that can be detrimental to your reputation, customers, vendors, and your bottom line. For example, traditional payment methods like checks and wire transfers are highly susceptible to fraud and data breaches, as they rely on static payment information stored in centralized databases, which are prime targets for cybercriminals.
Without the dynamic security of virtual cards, businesses face a higher potential for unauthorized transactions and financial losses. Additionally, the lack of advanced security features, such as customizable spending limits and merchant restrictions, reduces control over financial transactions and increases the risk of both fraud and misuse. Traditional payment methods also complicate the reconciliation process, leading to more time-consuming and error-prone accounting practices. Lastly, the manual processing required for checks and invoices incurs higher administrative costs and inefficiencies compared to the automated processes enabled by virtual cards.
Benefits of virtual cards
Virtual cards help protect organizations against inefficiencies, errors, and security risks, significantly reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access to sensitive financial information for the following reasons:
- Enhanced security: Virtual cards for businesses eliminate the need for static payment information, significantly reducing fraud risk. They come with advanced security features like spending limits, expiration dates, and merchant restrictions, providing robust protection against unauthorized usage.
- Streamlined reconciliation: Transactions made with virtual cards are accompanied by detailed data, including invoice information and supplier details, simplifying the reconciliation process. This helps businesses track expenses accurately and efficiently.
- Improved cash flow management: Virtual cards offer flexible payment terms, allowing businesses to effectively extend days payable outstanding (DPO) and payment timelines while ensuring timely settlements for suppliers. This optimizes cash flow, enhances financial resource management, and ensures a viable and strong supply chain.
- Cost savings: By digitizing B2B payments, virtual cards reduce costs associated with paper checks, manual processing, and invoice handling. This minimizes administrative overhead and eliminates paper-based inefficiencies.
- Efficient vendor management: Virtual cards provide centralized control and real-time visibility into transactions, enabling businesses to streamline supplier relationships, negotiate better terms, and optimize supplier performance.
How Coupa Pay Virtual Cards can help your organization protect its payments and optimize margins
With Coupa Pay Virtual Cards, one-time virtual cards can be issued to pay on invoice or right at the time of purchase. Accounting and budgeting information can be collected and approved up-front as part of a purchase request, eliminating the delay in expense approvals and reconciliation issues with purchasing card (P-card) transactions. For each transaction, Coupa generates a unique card number for the authorized amount, sends the details to either the supplier or the requester (i.e. employee) and automatically reconciles the resulting charges and statements back to the accounting system, so that employees aren’t required to file expense reports. Plus, suppliers get fast access to cash and liquidity that are often critical for smaller resource intensive companies, and one-time suppliers no longer have to go through a lengthy onboarding process. In addition to reducing risks and replacing inefficient manual processes, Coupa Pay Virtual Cards allow your organization to take advantage of the following benefits:
- Maximized card rebates: Increased cash back to the company, in the form of cash rebates provided by the card issuer, is accomplished by driving more card spend on the virtual card program through higher supplier and employee adoption.
- Increased discounts and optimized DPO: Use virtual cards to take advantage of your billing cycle to extend DPO, alone, or in combination with an Early Pay Discount program.
- Reduced costs on international payments: Replace wire transfers or cross-border card payments with virtual cards to reduce FX costs, move funds faster and eliminate unnecessary fees. Coupa customers are able to leverage Coupa’s robust card issuer ecosystem to generate virtual cards in local currencies across more than 42 countries.
“The V-card is a win-win for the employees. They don’t have to process the expense report. They just get the purchase order (PO) up front and then the charges automatically flow in and match up. It’s all pre-approved ahead of time, we can track it, and we have visibility into those charges whereas we don’t see that in the corporate card.”
Coupa customer, Thoughtspot, gained real-time visibility into daily spend, eliminated error-prone manual processes, and streamlined payments with virtual cards, significantly boosting efficiency. With pre-approved PO-backed virtual cards, Thoughtspot dramatically reduced the resources needed to make payments by 80%. For Thoughtspot’s IT department, Coupa Pay also helped reduce the time spent debugging monthly manual transfer of payment files from the ERP to their bank portal by three to four hours per month.
With virtual cards, businesses of all sizes can gain faster, more accurate processes and significantly reduce security risks due to increased control and visibility over encrypted card details. By partnering with the industry’s top credit card issuers and programs, Coupa Pay provides a one-stop-shop for all of your company’s B2B payments and financing needs to help you pay smarter.