Since online banking has been booming, virtual credit cards have also become increasingly popular. These are credit cards where you no longer get a plastic card in your hand, but only the information on it. Because these are all you need for online shopping today. If you would like to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of virtual credit cards in general, you can read about this in our article "What is a virtual credit card? Here we have compiled an overview of the most popular providers of virtual credit cards.

Which financial institutions offer virtual credit cards?

Here is a selection of companies where you can apply for a virtual credit card. The links will take you directly to the offers:

• Kredupay (MasterCard)
• Neteller (MasterCard)
• netbank (MasterCard)
• VIMpay (MasterCard)

The most common virtual credit cards in comparison:

Virtual credit card from Kredupay

Kredupay's virtual credit card differs in several ways from the virtual credit cards of other providers. The biggest difference is that it is not a prepaid credit card in the classical sense, but a hybrid. This is because in this case, when you top up the card, you do not charge a credit balance which is then processed by using the card. Instead, one borrows money in the form of a loan. The loan is then immediately booked to the virtual credit card and is available immediately within a few minutes. In addition, you have the advantage that you do not need to open a current account to get a virtual credit card. This has the advantage that you don't have to wait for the money to be transferred, which can sometimes take several days.

Available quickly, but has its price

As soon as you request a new loan for the card, it will be available within seconds. However, you will have to pay interest on this loan as soon as you use it. On the positive side, the interest rate of 1.16% per month, i.e. 13.90% per year, is very favorable. Much cheaper than with most conventional credit cards. However, the annual fee that one has to pay, no matter if one uses the card or not, is relatively high with 149 €. 25 € of it one gets credited right at the beginning of the use as a starting credit, so that the fee has to pay only 124 € at least in the first year, but also this amount is still clearly above most of the competing offers. And from the second year on you pay the full 148 €.

Another advantage compared to conventional credit cards is that you can get the Kredupay card already from an income of 500 € per month, while otherwise you usually have to prove a significantly higher income. In order to check whether you meet the requirements of the provider and to determine how high the maximum limit for the loan may be, you must have a credit and account check carried out when you apply for the card. This ensures that you can never load more money onto the card than you actually have.

Conclusion:

In our opinion, Kredupay's offer is especially suitable for people who want to be on the safe side when shopping online and make sure that they do not get caught by fraudsters who want to empty their account. The previously determined loans determine the maximum amount that can be spent on the following card use. If the amount is not sufficient, you can unlock more money within seconds.

As a method of self-control for gambling addicts or shopaholics, it is not suitable, since you can of course also outwit yourself within seconds. On the other hand, it is recommended for older people who are not familiar with credit types and online banking and therefore often feel insecure. Kredupay can also be used to give children some pocket money for online shopping. However, due to the rather high annual fee, you should be sure that you will use the card regularly, otherwise it is not worth it.

To the offer from Kredupay:

The virtual credit card from Netbank

With its virtual credit card, Netbank has launched an offer that can be considered a standard work of a virtual credit card to a certain extent. It is a classic prepaid card, where you first have to load credit and then you can use it for online shopping. It is also one of the cheapest variants. The annual fee is 7.5 €, the recharge is free of charge and since you can only work off the loaded credit, there are no interest costs. Fees are only incurred if you have confirmed your bookings with a SMS after the execution or if you want to call up your account balance per. (10 cents per SMS).

An e-mail confirmation and monthly account statements by e-mail are free of charge. The use in other EU countries with Euro as currency is also free of charge. A conversion into other currencies costs 1.5% of the booked turnover. However, we have not yet been able to find out whether the card will be blocked after a long period of inactivity and whether an activation fee will be charged.

Another positive aspect is that this card can also be used very quickly. Not within a few seconds, but at least within 24 hours.

Conclusion:

Netbank offers here a cheap and secure virtual prepaid credit card, with which one cannot do much wrong. To the offer of Netbank:

Die Neteller Net+ Virtuelle Prepaid-Mastercard

Neteller charges neither annual nor monthly fees for its virtual Mastercard. However, you must open your own account with Neteller to use it. This is also free of charge as long as you make a registration or transaction at least once every 12 months. If you don't do this, a monthly processing fee of 5 $ or 4 € will be deducted. As far as we could tell, the card costs 2.5% of the transaction amount to top up. However, Neteller's Internet presence is very confusing and difficult to understand, especially in relation to their virtual credit card. We therefore advise you to contact the service team again before making a purchase and clarify all the important key points.

To the Neteller offer:

VIMpay: Virtual Mastercart as App

VIMpay is a payment variant that only works via an app, but works together with ApplePay, GooglePay and GarminPay. This is also a virtual prepaid credit card. It is available in several variations, whereby only the standard version is free of charge. With it you can transfer up to 300 € at once. If that's not enough, you can switch to the VIMpay Plus for 1.99 € per month, with which you can load up to 2,500 € as maximum credit. One step further is the VIMpay Premium Card for 4,99 € per month with a limit of 10.000 €. There are no international fees with VIMpay. You can find all further information here: Information and offers from VIMpay

Further information about the virtual credit card

If you want to know more about the advantages and disadvantages of virtual credit cards in general, for whom they are particularly suitable and what you should know about them, then take a look at our article "What are virtual credit cards".

Here are also some more information and tips on the subject of free credit cards briefly and crisply summarized in the following video:

   

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