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Articles & Insights
The Rural Revenue Squeeze
Virtual cards aren’t just another payments buzzword. They’re one of the fastest growing tools in the consumer financial world, and they’re rapidly changing expectations around how transactions should work, including healthcare.
Let’s take a closer look at Virtual Cards including how they enhance the patient payment process, reduce risk, and are increasing consumer adoption. The numbers are telling, and so is the patient mindset driving them.
What Are Virtual Cards?
Virtual cards are digital versions of credit or debit cards. Instead of a static card number tied to a piece of plastic in your wallet, a virtual card generates a unique card number for each purchase or merchant.
They can be single-use — meaning the card number becomes invalid after one transaction, or multi-use with tight controls like spending caps or merchant-specific locks. This makes them fundamentally more secure than traditional cards, while also giving consumers greater control over how, where, and when their money is used.
For patients, it means safer transactions with less risk of fraud. For healthcare organizations, it means fewer chargebacks, reduced exposure, and a payment experience that keeps pace with the rest of the digital world.
The Surge in Virtual Card Adoption
According to PYMNTS, 42% of U.S. consumers used a virtual card in the last six months, and 65% say they’re likely to use one in the next year. The global virtual cards market is growing at over 21% annually (Straits Research).
This isn’t just general curiosity, consumers are actively experimenting with and embracing these secure payment tools:
- 56% of users have used a virtual card number that’s different from their physical card.
- Nearly 1 in 4 consumers have tried one-time-use virtual card numbers.
- 28% have even set up virtual cards for automatic payments, giving them real-time control over recurring charges and merchant access.
Among connected tech users, those who have adopted platforms like VR, EVs, or smart home systems, 74% are using virtual cards, with 50% opting for single-use card numbers and 55% creating store-specific cards (PYMNTS Security Report). Meanwhile, the broader digital payment market is on track to hit $32.07 trillion by 2033, growing at a 13.59% CAGR as virtual cards become embedded into payment infrastructure (GlobeNewswire).
Patients are becoming more like retail consumers every day. They’re comparing their healthcare payment experience to how they pay for streaming services, utilities, and online shopping. When healthcare payments lag behind, it becomes painfully obvious—and it can slow down collections and hurt patient satisfaction.
What Makes Virtual Cards So Secure?
Unlike traditional credit or debit cards, virtual cards come with built-in guardrails. They generate a unique, single-use card number that’s locked to a specific merchant or spend amount. Once that transaction is processed, the card details become useless.
This structure directly reduces breach exposure by masking actual card numbers. The single-use numbers become invalid immediately after the transaction, so even if cybercriminals intercept the data, there’s nothing to exploit. Corpay and U.S. Bank both highlight how this minimizes the fallout from data breaches, protecting both patients and providers.
That’s a critical comfort point for patients who are already wary of identity theft or major data breaches, which are all concerns that continue to rise as more healthcare payments move online. By leveraging virtual cards, you directly address these trust barriers that often delay payment decisions.
Why Virtual Cards Are More Secure
- Unique card numbers: Each transaction can generate a one-time-use number, instantly invalid after purchase.
- Merchant locks: Limits use to a single provider or retailer, blocking unauthorized charges.
- Spending caps: Restricts transaction amounts to prevent overbilling or fraud.
- No exposure of actual card data: Protects the patient’s real account from being compromised.
- Easy deactivation: Virtual cards can be shut off immediately, unlike waiting for a replacement physical card.
Why Healthcare is Paying Attention
Healthcare isn’t immune to the broader wave of online payment fraud. In fact, given the sensitivity of the data at play, it faces even stricter compliance burdens and higher stakes when something goes wrong. PCI DSS v4.0.1 standards are ramping up requirements, and breaches cost more than just money. They erode patient trust and can have lasting reputational impacts.
At the same time, billing offices are already stretched thin. Processing complex payment flows, manually reconciling virtual card transactions, or chasing down mismatched accounts creates administrative drag that healthcare simply can’t afford.
Where PatientPay Accelerate™ Comes In
This is where PatientPay Accelerate makes a difference. It’s designed to help healthcare providers accept virtual card payments—without the operational headaches that often come with managing new payment types.
Accelerate doesn’t just accept virtual cards. It automatically reconciles those payments back to patient accounts, reducing errors, eliminating manual effort, and speeding up settlement—often within days instead of the weeks it takes with paper checks or legacy processes.
Just ask Matt Mettry, Director of Business Development at Alpine Physicians Group. In a recent article, he shared how his team was losing revenue when payments made through payer tools that never reached their system.
“We had to manually match payments—if we even knew they came in,”
he said. Since implementing Accelerate, Alpine sees those payments flow directly into their platform, fully reconciled and accounted for—without the administrative drag.
Alpine Physician Partners, leverages PatientPay Accelerate for these payments which has significantly improved our cash flow by speeding up payments by more than 40 days. It also significantly reduced the administrative burden of payment posting for our staff, reducing the cost of collections by approximately $4,780 per 1,000 payments.
Critically, the platform ensures all transactions remain secure and compliant, meeting the highest standards required in healthcare financial operations. With Accelerate, providers can offer patients the same secure, digital payment experience they expect everywhere else in their lives.
A Better Experience for Patients and Providers
Patients want to pay in ways that feel safe, modern, and convenient. Virtual cards give them that. Healthcare organizations that make it easy to use these methods see faster collections, lower administrative costs, and a billing process that truly aligns with consumer expectations.
It’s not just about keeping up with payment trends. It’s about creating a system that respects how patients want to engage financially, reduces their risk, and builds trust that extends beyond the clinical encounter.
Final Thoughts
Virtual cards aren’t a niche trend. They’re quickly becoming a standard way for consumers to pay, and they offer significant benefits to healthcare providers willing to embrace them.
By integrating solutions like PatientPay Accelerate, hospitals and practices can reduce fraud exposure, simplify their workflows, and give patients a payment experience that feels as trustworthy and seamless as every other part of their digital life.
Ready to see how easy it is to get started? Contact us today to learn how Accelerate can secure your payments, speed up cash flow, and deliver a better experience for your patients.
