Virtual cards

You need to pay for something online today and have no plastic card: a virtual one fits. Issuance takes minutes, many can go into a phone wallet, and they work for subscriptions, services and foreign shops. Some are offered through Telegram bots and small apps.

Four questions narrow the field: what issuing and topping up cost, how currency is converted, which services turn the card away, and what happens once the balance is empty.

Many providers here are new and say little about their terms. Where that is the case the review says it directly, and outside numbers are shown as unofficial.

Articles

WantToPay Card Review: Fees, Limits and the Telegram Angle

WantToPay is a virtual card you issue inside Telegram and spend from a crypto or ruble balance, and on the evidence I…

Worldwide Card Review: Fees, Limits and Real-World Use

The Worldwide card looks, from the outside, like an escape hatch. The marketing says the card works “where Russian cards are not…