In the push to automate finance operations, virtual cards have emerged as a popular tool for securing B2B transactions. They promise enhanced security, better control over employee spending, and simplified expense tracking. But for finance and procurement teams buried in invoices and reconciliation tasks, a critical question remains: are virtual cards the best solution for all vendor payments?

While virtual cards offer clear benefits for specific use cases, a centralized bill pay solution within a procurement platform tackles the root cause of payment complexity. Understanding the difference between these two approaches—and when to use each—is key to building a truly efficient and scalable purchase-to-pay process. This article breaks down the vendor bill pay vs. virtual card debate to help you decide which tool is right for the job.

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What are virtual cards for vendor payments?

A virtual card is a unique, digitally-generated 16-digit card number used for online or card-not-present transactions. These cards function just like a physical credit card—with their own CVV and expiration date—but exist only in a digital format. They are designed to provide a secure and controllable way to make virtual card vendor payments without exposing a company’s primary physical card details.

Platforms that offer virtual cards typically allow businesses to generate them instantly with specific controls attached. These controls can include:

• Spending limits: Set a maximum amount that can be charged to the card.
• Time frames: Define an expiration date, making cards valid for a specific period or a single transaction.
• Vendor locks: Restrict a card so it can only be used with a single, pre-approved merchant.

These features make virtual cards a flexible tool for managing various types of business spend, from one-off purchases to recurring software subscriptions.

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When should you use virtual cards for your suppliers?

Virtual cards are best suited for ad-hoc purchases that fall outside of your standard procurement workflow. They are an excellent tool for managing one-time virtual card vendor payments, securing online subscriptions, and empowering employees with controlled purchasing power for non-recurring expenses.

For one-time or infrequent vendor payments

If you need to make a single purchase from a new vendor you haven’t fully vetted, a single-use virtual card is an ideal choice. Because the card number expires immediately after the transaction, it completely eliminates the risk of the card details being compromised and used for fraudulent charges later. This provides a secure way to engage with new virtual card for suppliers without establishing a long-term accounts payable relationship.

For managing digital and SaaS subscriptions

Assigning a unique, recurring virtual card to each of your software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions simplifies spend management and prevents unwanted charges. If a vendor’s system is breached, only one card is compromised, and you can cancel it without disrupting payments for other services. This method also makes it easy to track spending per subscription and instantly cut off payments for a service you no longer need, preventing forgotten subscriptions from billing you indefinitely.

For employee ad-hoc expenses

For expenses that are difficult to predict, such as employee travel, virtual cards offer a controlled alternative to traditional corporate cards or reimbursements. You can issue an employee a virtual card with a set budget and expiration date for a specific trip or project. This gives them the autonomy to make necessary purchases while providing the finance team with real-time visibility and control over that spend.

Vendor bill pay vs. virtual card: a better approach with consolidated billing

While virtual cards are a single tool for the payment step, a consolidated vendor bill pay approach within a procurement software platform addresses the entire purchase-to-pay lifecycle. This method streamlines everything from requisition to reconciliation, delivering efficiency and control that virtual cards alone cannot match.

Instead of just offering a way to pay, a platform like Order.co transforms the entire purchasing and payment process. Here’s how it works:

1. Centralized purchasing: All your vendors—whether they are online suppliers or offline, email-based businesses—are managed in one place. Employees shop from curated catalogs of pre-approved products, ensuring every purchase is compliant from the start. This makes the need for clunky, individual vendor punchouts obsolete.
2. Automated approvals: Custom approval workflows and budget controls are built directly into the purchasing process. A purchase request is automatically routed to the right stakeholders and cannot be placed until it receives full approval, eliminating rogue spend before it happens.
3. Order.co pays your vendors: After an order is approved, Order.co handles the fulfillment and payment for every single vendor. Order.co pays your suppliers using their preferred method, whether it’s a card, ACH, or check. You no longer have to manage vendor payment details or multiple payment systems.
4. Consolidated billing: At the end of your billing cycle, you receive a single, consolidated invoice from Order.co detailing every purchase made across all vendors, locations, and departments. This invoice contains rich, line-level data for every item.

This consolidated approach offers significant advantages over a card-based payment strategy. Instead of reconciling hundreds of individual card transactions, your AP team only has to process a handful of invoices, depending on how you set up the system. Because all purchases are pre-approved and data is captured at the source, invoice data is automatically synced to your ERP or accounting system, eliminating manual data entry and coding errors.complete. Once the expiration date passes, the card is automatically deactivated.

Ebook

The Procurement Strategy Playbook for Modern Businesses

Learn the key pillars of a strong strategy, valuable procurement metrics to track, and initiatives you can start implementing today.

Download now

How Order.co combines the best of both worlds

A truly effective payment strategy shouldn't force you to choose between flexibility and control. Order.co integrates the pinpoint security of virtual cards with the unparalleled efficiency of a consolidated billing platform, giving you a complete solution for 100% of your business spend.

Within the Order.co platform, you can leverage vendor-locked virtual cards for those specific use cases where they excel—like new vendor payments, SaaS subscriptions, or off-catalog employee expenses. These cards can be issued instantly with strict controls, ensuring security for every ad-hoc transaction.

However, these card payments don't live in a separate silo. All transaction data from Order.co virtual cards is captured and unified with your catalog purchases within the platform. This means every dollar spent, whether through a catalog-based purchase or a flexible card payment, is tracked in a single system. You get one consolidated bill, one reconciliation process, and one complete view of your company’s spend. This hybrid approach gives you the ultimate flexibility to buy what you need while maintaining the strict control and streamlined efficiency of a unified procure-to-pay system.

Unify your vendor payments with Order.co

Virtual cards are a valuable tool, but they are only one piece of the complex vendor payment puzzle. To build a scalable and efficient finance operation, you need a solution that addresses the entire purchasing lifecycle. 

By unifying centralized purchasing, automated approvals, and vendor-agnostic payments into a single platform, Order.co eliminates the chaos of managing hundreds of invoices and transactions. You get the security of virtual cards when you need them and the powerful efficiency of consolidated billing for everything else.

Ready to move beyond siloed payment tools and bring true order to your business buying?

Schedule a demo to see how Order.co can simplify buying for your business.