There can be fees attached, depending on how extensively you want to use your virtual cards, but in some cases they're free to use since the virtual card companies typically make money from the ...

The big picture: Virtual cards are credit card numbers that aren't on any physical piece of plastic. They were invented by an Irish company, Orbiscom, in the 1990s, as a way of preventing fraud.

What is a virtual credit card — and how do you get one? Virtual credit cards make your online shopping safer, but you don't want to use them for everything. Updated Thu, Aug 7 2025 ...

These two cards are currently active with a total spend limit of $1. I could have set it up for any amount I wanted, but I chose $1 since it should never actually be used.

Many virtual cards are one-time use only, making them ideal for free subscriptions. If you forget to cancel, the subscription shouldn't be able to charge you using your virtual card number.

Some virtual cards expire after every transaction, so if anyone accesses your card information, that number would be useless to them. Other virtual cards, like Google Pay, have a longer duration.

But there’s an easy fix that can help you avoid this headache: using a virtual credit card. Many virtual cards are one-time use only, making them ideal for free subscriptions.

A cost-efficient solution Virtual cards do have inherent costs to the business (such as how traditional credit card processing fees charge between 1.5% to 3.5% per transaction).