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Use case · Contractor payments

Virtual cards for contractors

Pay your contractors with a virtual Visa card. Set a budget. Restrict to allowed merchant categories. Cancel the card when the job is done. They never see your bank account.

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  • PCI DSS aligned
  • ISO 9001 Quality Management Certified
  • ISO 20000 IT Service Management Certified
  • ISO 27001 Information Security Management Certified
  • Aligned with NIST SP 800-53 controls
  • AICPA SOC for Service Organizations
  • AICPA SOC Service Organization Control Reports
  • HIPAA-aligned safeguards
  • CCPA requirements followed
PCI DSS aligned
The problem

Three ways to pay a contractor today. All three are messy.

Most teams pay contractors one of three ways. Each one has a real problem.

  • ACH transfer. You need their bank info. It takes 1 to 3 days. If the scope changes, the money is already gone.
  • Paper check. No tracking. The mail can lose it. You do not know when it hits the bank.
  • Shared corporate card. Once they have the number, you cannot take it back.
How we fix it

One card. One budget. One click to end it.

Each contractor gets their own virtual Visa card. The card holds the exact budget you agreed to. When the work is done, you cancel the card.

  • No bank account needed. Contractors do not share routing numbers. They use the card like any Visa card.
  • Locked to the budget. The spend limit is the price you agreed to. The card cannot go over.
  • Locked to the right categories. Pick allowed merchant categories. Charges from other categories are declined based on supported controls.
  • One-click cancel. Job done? Cancel the card. The leftover money comes back to your wallet.
  • Works alongside other use cases. Same wallet funds business travel, department spending, and more.
How it works

Four steps from agreement to paid contractor.

  1. 01

    Make a card.

    Add the contractor's name and the budget.

  2. 02

    Set the rules.

    Pick the stores. Pick the start and end dates.

  3. 03

    Send the card.

    By secure email, Apple Wallet, or Google Wallet.

  4. 04

    Track and cancel.

    Watch every charge in your dashboard. When the work is done, cancel the card. Leftover money comes back to you.

See it in action

Your contractor payments in one dashboard.

Watch every charge land, by contractor and by project. Issue, freeze, top up, or close any card from the same screen.

  • Virtual Card Maker dashboard showing active cards, total spending, pending and declined transactions, and recent activity for virtual cards for contractors

    Live dashboard

    Active cards, total spend by contractor, declined attempts, every charge as it happens.

  • Create New Card form in Virtual Card Maker, with options to pick a Visa card type, set a spending limit, and choose between virtual or physical card

    Issue a contractor card in minutes

    Pick the card type, set the spending limit, choose virtual or physical, send to the contractor.

Controls

What you can set on every contractor card.

ControlWhat you setWhy it matters

  • Spend limit

    Total or monthly cap

    The card stops at the budget. No overage possible.

  • Store categories

    Allowed types

    Card only works at the right kinds of stores.

  • Time window

    Start and end dates

    Card ends itself when the project ends.

  • Cardholder name

    Whose name appears

    Matches your contractor records.

  • One-time or reusable

    Toggle

    Single payment or ongoing work.

In practice

Three ways teams pay contractors with virtual cards.

  • Graphic designer / 30 days

    Pay a designer $2,400 over 30 days. The card works at Adobe, Figma, and her hosting. Nothing else. Ends April 1. Leftover $182 comes back.

  • Contractor team / launch

    Issue 12 cards in one Excel upload. Each card has its own budget. Each card works only at the stores you picked.

  • Q1 tax accountant

    Pay your CPA $5,000 for tax season. Card works at professional service stores only. Active Jan 15 to May 15. Cancel after.

Need cards for other kinds of spend? See SaaS subscriptions, business travel, or payroll cards.

FAQ

Related reading: Virtual cards for influencer and affiliate payouts.

FAQ

Common questions.

Do contractors need a bank account?

No. Virtual Visa cards work anywhere Visa is accepted. Online, in apps, or in stores with Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The contractor does not share any bank info.

Can I cancel a card in the middle of a job?

Yes. One click. The card stops working right away. Any leftover money comes back to your wallet.

Does this change my 1099 tax forms?

No. Paying by virtual card does not change your 1099 reporting obligation. We provide a per-card report with the amounts paid to each contractor, so you can determine which contractors meet the current IRS reporting threshold. See the IRS Form 1099-NEC instructions for current thresholds.

What if the contractor tries to spend more than the card holds?

The charge is declined. The card cannot go over the limit. You see the declined attempt in your dashboard.

Can I make many cards at once?

Yes. Upload an Excel sheet with all the contractor names and budgets. We make all the cards in one go.

Keep reading

Related setups.

Use cases
  1. Use cases

    What a Virtual Card for Small Business Actually Does

    Before you hand your team a virtual card for small business, it helps to know what it actually is: a Visa card funded from your own wallet, not a line of credit. Here is what it does, how the spend controls work, and what setting one up looks like.

    6 min read
  2. Use cases

    Virtual payroll cards

    Issue bulk payroll cards to your team in a single Excel upload. Funds load from your wallet to each recipient's virtual Visa card. No bank account needed from the recipient.

    4 min read
  3. Use cases

    Virtual Cards for Business: Issue a Card for Every Vendor, Team, and Expense

    A business virtual card is a Visa card number your company creates online and assigns to a vendor, employee, or expense. You set a spending limit, lock it to a merchant or category (where supported), and track every charge, without sharing your main card or bank account.

    14 min read

Issue the first one this afternoon.

Contractors take about a minute each: pick the type, set the limit, add the restrictions, send it.

Create your first cardBook a demo