A new report from Juniper Research found that the value of transactions processed by virtual cards will more than treble over the next 5 years; increasing from an anticipated $1.6 trillion in 2020. Virtual cards are temporary, random digital card numbers that replace core payment details for specific online transactions.
The report, ‘Virtual Cards: Consumer & Business Adoption, Competitive Analysis & Market Size 2020-2025’, found that B2B virtual cards will account for almost 80% of virtual card transactions by value, as that transaction value doubles over the next 5 years.
Consumer virtual card products to date have been mostly small scale and not used to their full potential, according to the report. Although the Apple Card has made virtual card capabilities more prominent, Juniper Research believes its current positioning and feature restrictions will hold the market back; despite virtual cards processing over $1 billion in 2025, less than 20% of people making online purchases will use them.
“Virtual cards often require additional software to use, which the average eCommerce user is not going to take the time to set up for mostly unseen benefits,” remarked research author James Moar. “The technology needs to become more automatic, and allow more features, if it is ever going to gain traction beyond a few specific products in the consumer market.”
Source: Juniper Research
