What is a virtual card?
A virtual card is a single-use pre-paid card not physically issued by a credit card provider.
Is this something that is automatically set up?
iPay Solutions runs a cross-check with payees and those that our processors consider good candidates for payment remittance. Payees are either contacted by the processor to complete enrollment or are onboarded based on their acceptance of credit card payments.
The payee states that he/she did not enroll for the virtual card service. Who should he/she reach out to?
The payee can reach out to the virtual card processor directly. Payees can reference payments they received from the processor to confirm the contact information.
Can businesses opt out a specific payee, subscriber, or my institution?
CCB cannot prevent payees from matching to specific processing types. If processing issues occur, we work to resolve them as they arise.
If the payee was already electronic, why did he/she change to virtual card payments?
When switching to virtual card payments, posting times can be one business day earlier than the previous electronic payment method.
How can I see if a payment was sent by virtual card or if a virtual card payment dropped to check in MASTER Site?
If a payment is sent by virtual card, the payment history timeline in MASTER Site states: This payment was sent using a single-use, pre-paid card.
If available, the last four digits of the card number display.
The institution can also choose View/Add Subscriber Notes from the Subscriber Options menu. Notes are added when a card is created, if a payment is dropped to check, or if the check has cleared. The institution can reference the payment ID to identify the payment.
This is not available for all transactions at this time. We are currently working to include details for more processors/transactions.
Can financial institutions receive a daily report of all payments sent using virtual cards and which processor was used?
At this time, a daily report by electronic processor is not available.
How do I explain this process and its benefits to my subscribers?
Some electronic payments are sent using a single-use, pre-paid card. This allows us to send more of your payments electronically, making payment posting times more secure and efficient for the subscriber. A different card number is used for each payment.
How does this benefit my institution?
Payees are able to post your subscriber’s payments faster. This payment method also allows more payees to receive electronic payments which increases your e-Rate.
Why is my client being assessed a service charge by his/her vendor to accept virtual card payments?
If your client is the payee, he/she can be charged by his/her credit card processor for accepting card payments. Payees agree to interchange fees when they enroll with a credit card processor. These fees are the responsibility of the payee and were agreed upon in the payee's card processing contract.
Clients who are subscribers should not be charged any fees, and this should be reported for research. Any fee passed on to the subscriber or the elimination of a subscriber’s discount due to a credit card payment should be brought to the attention of support immediately.
What type of card was it paid with?
Visa, MasterCard, or Discover.
What if a client asks if this is this fraudulent?
These payments are not fraudulent. Our goal is to deliver payments securely and quickly. Some payments process using a single-use, pre-paid card, which means you will not recognize the card numbers in the payment confirmation communications from the payee.