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What is a virtual card?

A virtual card is one that can only be used online; no plastic card is created. PEX offers two types of virtual cards: Team Member and Vendor Cards.

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How to create virtual cards

1
Navigate to the ‘Cards’ section in the left navigation
2
Click the ‘Order Cards’ blue button on the upper right
3
Select the type of card you would like – ‘Team Member’ or ‘Vendor’
  • A Team Member card is designed for employees of a business. These cards can be used for purchases made by members of a business with funds assigned to individual cardholders, and can be physical or virtual.
  • A Vendor card is designed for the use of the business. These cards are virtual-only cards that can be used for online payments towards one specific vendor.

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Ordering Team Member virtual cards

1
Select ‘Team Member’ from the drop down
2
Check the number of new cards currently available in your Plan
  • If you need to increase the number of new cards available to your organization, please contact PEX Admin Support at adminsupport@pexcard.com
3
Enter the names, DOB, phone, and email of the people for whom you are ordering cards. Click Continue
4
Check the box under the ‘Virtual Only’ column to order virtual cards for team members. These cards can be viewed by admins and cardholders in the Dashboard (requires enabling enhanced security through multi-factor authentication). No physical cards are mailed out and cards are activated immediately
5
You will be able to access the card number immediately after creation from the Card Details page

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Ordering Vendor virtual cards

1
Select ‘Vendor’ from the drop down
2
Card settings
  • Enter the name of the vendor to appear on the card (will appear on the virtual card as VENDOR [Vendor name])
  • Select the expiration length of the card.
  • Share with cardholder
    • This option will allow you to grant a cardholder full access to vendor card details as a “card owner”. This cardholder will be able to view the card number and all card transactions. Only one cardholder can be assigned to a vendor card.
  • Choose whether you want the card to be immediately activated
3
Funding
  • Select which funding option you would like to use for the card.
    • Use Auto Card Funding — Set funds to be automatically pulled from the business account balance so that no funding is needed ahead of payment.
      • You can also set up time-based spend limits to restrict the amount that can be spent on a card in a given period.
    • Add funds to card — Set funds to be transferred to the card upon creation.
      • Enter the initial balance that you would like to set for the card.
      • You can also set the cards to be funded automatically on a recurring basis by selecting a funding frequency.
    • Add funds later — create the card now without funding. Funding can be set up later on the Card Details page or the Cards page.
4
Vendor locking (optional)
  • Check the box to enable vendor locking.
  • Select the vendor that you would like to lock the card to
    • This option will limit the card to ONLY enable spend with the vendor you select.
    • This will prevent charges from unauthorized vendors and make reconciliation easier.
5
Click the button at the bottom titled “Create Card”
6
Once the card is activated, you will be able to access the card number from the Card Details page

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Virtual card FAQs

  • A Team Member card is designed for employees of a business. These cards can be used for purchases made by members of a business with funds assigned to individual cardholders, and can be physical or virtual.
  • Vendor cards are virtual-only cards that can be used for payments towards a specific vendor. You cannot create a physical Vendor card.
  • Are you looking for a simple way to pay a supplier for a one-off or ongoing purchase?
  • Is there a supplier or vendor that you frequently pay for ongoing subscriptions?
  • Do you have a recurring subscription fee and would like to set up auto funding for a set amount?
  • Is the fee approximately the same month to month?
  • Do you need an easier way to complete the reconciliation for a supplier?
  • If any of the above questions apply to you for a specific supplier, a Vendor card is recommended.
  • Virtual card numbers are available once the card is activated. Team Member cards are activated immediately upon creation. Vendor cards will be activated immediately if “Auto-activate this card on creation” is selected during card creation; otherwise, admins may activate the cards manually.
  • Team Member virtual cards can be added to digital wallets, giving cardholders the flexibility to use their cards for in-store purchases. Vendor virtual cards cannot be added to digital wallets and are for online use only.
  • No. Vendor cards can only be used online.
  • Team Member virtual cards may be upgraded to physical cards if needed at no additional cost. To do so, go to the Cards section of the PEX Dashboard, select the virtual card accounts that you wish to convert to physical cards, and click the “Request Physical” bulk action button.
  • Vendor virtual cards cannot be upgraded to physical cards, they remain virtually accessible only.
  • Vendor cards are not available for disburse accounts.
  • Spend rules and auto funding can be set up in the same way for plastic and virtual card accounts.
  • No, they do not. A new card order must be placed after expiry.
  • Vendor cards are free.
  • Additionally, Vendor cards do not count towards your total number of allotted card accounts. This means that even if you are already using the maximum number of cards your pricing plan includes, you may still create Vendor cards as needed, at no additional cost.
Last modified on April 22, 2026