Virtual Card API for FinTech and Digital Banks - How it Works

Virtual Card API transforms digital payments across continents by offering security, flexibility, and cost efficiency. 

To the extent that the total volume of virtual card transactions is projected to be up to 175 billion by 2028. 

If you’re running a financial company or plan to establish one, leveraging virtual card APIs helps facilitate international transactions, and enhance customer experience while reducing fraud risks.

Let’s go over some of the best practices for utilizing virtual card APIs for your business. 

What is a Virtual Card API?

A Virtual Card API is a software interface that allows businesses to generate and manage virtual payment cards programmatically. 

These cards function like physical debit or credit cards but exist only in digital form, offering increased security and flexibility.

In simple terms, a virtual card API is a software that allows FinTech and digital banking companies to offer virtual card capabilities to their desired audience. 

As such, you’ll obtain the authorization to issue virtual USD cards in varying currencies. 

One company making strides in this space is Miden, a fintech company that enables businesses to issue virtual debit cards through its API. 

With over 100,000 issued virtual cards to world-class companies, Miden positions itself as a trusted partner for dependable and solid payment solutions across Africa. 

Common Use Cases For Implementing Virtual Card APIs

1. Instant Digital Banking Card Issuance

✅ Use Case: Neobanks and digital financial institutions issue virtual debit or credit cards instantly upon account creation. Instead of building one from scratch (coupled with the significant time and money spent), these institutions can obtain a virtual card API, which grants them virtual card capabilities. 

✅ Benefits:

• Instant access to banking services without requiring a physical card.
• Reduce costs associated with physical card issuance.
• Promotes a seamless digital banking experience via mobile apps.

✅Miden offers branded virtual USD and corporate cards to clients across Africa. 

2. Subscription & Recurring Payment Management

✅ Use Case: Digital banks issue virtual cards for managing recurring payments and SaaS subscriptions. 

✅ Benefits:

• Prevents unwanted auto-renewals and overcharges.
• Gives users more control over their subscriptions.
• Reduces the risk of fraud from storing card details online.

3. Cross-Border & Multi-Currency Transactions

✅ Use Cases: Traditional international payments involve high foreign exchange (FX) fees and slow processing times. With Virtual Card APIs, fintech companies can provide multi-currency virtual cards that allow users to make payments without high conversion fees.

✅ Benefits: 

• Lower FX fees compared to traditional banking services.
• Instant, real-time currency conversion at better rates.
• Secure international payments without the risk of fraud.

✅ Miden Virtual Card API enables FinTech and other digital banking companies to be able to issue single or multi-currency wallets to facilitate payment transactions across borders. 

4. Corporate Expense & Payroll Management

✅ Use Cases: Many businesses struggle with tracking employee expenses, especially for travel, office purchases, and business-related subscriptions. With Virtual Card APIs, fintech companies can help businesses issue expense management cards with preset spending rules.

✅  Benefits: 

• Prevents unauthorized spending and misuse of corporate funds.
• Eliminates the need for reimbursement processes.
• Improves transparency and financial control for businesses.

✅ Miden issues corporate card-issuing solutions that help improve workplace regulations. 

Why Choose Miden’s Virtual Card APIs?

Miden’s Virtual Card API is a powerful card-issuing solution designed to help fintechs, digital banks, and other businesses issue and manage virtual payment cards seamlessly. 

Whether you’re looking to enhance security, streamline business expenses, or enable instant payments, Miden provides a scalable, secure, and developer-friendly API that integrates effortlessly into your financial platform.

With Miden, you can:

• Get access to USD and NGN virtual card capabilities.
• Issue Visa and Mastercard functionalities for local and international transactions. 
• Fund-as-you-go. In other words, you can set custom spending limits (daily, weekly, or, monthly), expiration dates, and merchant restrictions.
• Enable real-time tracking to prevent fraud, facilitate payment transactions, and more. 
• Offers scalability to support heavy transactions as your business grows.

Ready to integrate Miden’s Virtual Card API? Speak to an expert today! 

Frequently Asked Questions on ‘Virtual Card API for FinTech and Digital Banks’

1. What is a virtual API?

A virtual API refers to a software application that allows businesses to issue digital banking capabilities without the need to build a different infrastructure. Miden Virtual Card API is a perfect example of a seamless, scalable, and solid virtual API solution.

2. Who is Virtual Card APIs for?

Virtual card APIs are useful for startups in the financial and non-financial space that require seamless capabilities for their payment features, companies building card-based products, e-commerce businesses, and more.

3. Which one works better - Virtual or Physical Cards? 

Unlike traditional card systems, digital (virtual) cards offer a scalable, cashless, and enhanced security features that suit the digital age and transformation. With Miden’s virtual card API, companies across all industries can offer card-issuing solutions to their customers without hassle.