How Virtual Prepaid Cards Can Solve International Recurring Payments Issues

India's rapidly evolving financial landscape is throwing strong headwinds at all businesses that require disbursing payments to remote gig workers/contractors or agencies.

You must have heard about the recently updated Reserve Bank of India guidelines around auto-debits from debit and credit cards. According to the new mandate, customers must provide an e-mandate as an additional factor of authentication (AFA).

Questo ulteriore passo significa che le banche emittenti delle carte sono ora tenute a inviare un messaggio di preaddebito per avvisare i propri clienti 24 ore prima della scadenza del pagamento. I titolari delle carte devono quindi approvare le transazioni superiori a ₹15.000 tramite una password unica per il successo del pagamento automatico.

Le nuove linee guida sull'addebito automatico emanate dalla Reserve Bank of India si applicano alle transazioni ricorrenti nazionali e internazionali. Tuttavia, l'estensione dell'ambito di applicazione a livello nazionale e internazionale significa che il mandato di addebito automatico impostato su qualsiasi carta di credito o di debito, sia nazionale che internazionale, non sarà elaborato senza il fattore aggiuntivo di autenticazione (AFA).

Vi starete chiedendo se esistono soluzioni che vi aiutino a effettuare pagamenti puntuali, evitando di intaccare la fiducia e la crescita dell'azienda. Le carte prepagate virtuali potrebbero essere un'ottima alternativa. Cerchiamo quindi di saperne di più.

What are virtual prepaid cards?

Virtual prepaid cards are an amalgamation of virtual cards and prepaid cards. So, let’s break it down one concept at a time to get a holistic view of how they function.

Virtual card

A virtual card is simply an online version of a plastic bank card. They work in the same fashion as regular plastic cards for online transactions. The pertinent details that distinguish a specific card, such as the 16-digit number, expiry date, and CVV number, are accessible by logging into your account online. Although linked to your business card account, these virtual numbers cannot be traced back.

Prepaid card

Le carte prepagate sono caricate con una certa somma di denaro e non sono collegate al conto bancario dell'azienda. Il vostro reparto di gestione delle spese decide quanto "contante" assegnare alla carta e questo limite non può essere superato.

Virtual prepaid card

These are an amalgamation of the previous two card types. Virtual prepaid cards scale your security to the maximum. You can top up each virtual prepaid card with an allocated budget. Since this card has the benefits of a virtual card, there’s no physical theft, and the card cannot be traced back to the bank account. Furthermore, virtual prepaid cards do not allow unauthorized access to spending funds more than the established rules.

How virtual prepaid cards solve international recurring payment challenges

Handling international recurring payments can be a significant hurdle for many businesses. Whether you're managing global subscriptions, paying international vendors, or running multinational ad campaigns, common issues like payment declines, high transaction fees, and complex banking regulations can disrupt cash flow and impact customer satisfaction.

This is where virtual prepaid cards step in as a game-changer. Here’s how they help overcome key challenges:

1. Simplifying cross-border transactions

Virtual prepaid cards provide a seamless way to manage cross-border transactions. Unlike traditional bank transfers, which often involve high fees and delays, virtual cards enable instant payments across currencies.

Businesses can load cards in the local currency of the vendor or partner, making transactions faster and smoother. This not only cuts down on operational headaches but also eliminates hefty foreign transaction fees typically charged by banks.

2. Avoiding high fees

One of the biggest pain points in international payments is the cost. Wire transfers and traditional foreign currency payments come with hidden fees and unfavorable exchange rates. Virtual prepaid cards allow you to preload funds at a favorable rate and lock in your spending—avoiding fluctuating costs and saving money on every transaction.

3. Improving payment security

Virtual prepaid cards enhance payment security by reducing the risk of fraud. Since these cards can be set for single-use or restricted to specific merchants or categories, they minimize exposure if the card details are compromised. This is especially important for recurring international payments, where card-on-file fraud can be a major concern.

4. Ensuring reliable payment processing

Payment declines due to currency mismatches or international restrictions are a frequent issue in global transactions. With virtual prepaid cards, businesses can issue cards specific to each region or currency, ensuring a much higher success rate for recurring payments—whether it’s for SaaS subscriptions, cloud services, or digital ad spending.

5. Flexibility for subscriptions and recurring payments

Virtual prepaid cards are ideal for managing subscriptions and recurring payments, especially with international vendors. You can set controls like monthly spending limits or expiry dates, ensuring that your payment methods don’t get overcharged and remain fully under your control.

Benefits of using virtual prepaid cards

Un'avvertenza delle linee guida della Reserve Bank of India è che l'autenticazione a fattore aggiuntivo è richiesta per le transazioni ricorrenti, non per i pagamenti "una tantum". Inoltre, le istruzioni permanenti devono prevedere il pagamento con la carta di debito/credito. Questa distinzione rende l'uso delle carte prepagate virtuali un'ottima alternativa!

Virtual prepaid cards make the process of recurring payments effortless. They eliminate the hassles of OTP-based authorization, auto-debit failures, overdraft fees, and approval delays while paying your gig workers and contractors or maintaining subscription access to crucial business tools.

Scopriamo di più su questi vantaggi:

1. Instant 24x7 payments

Virtual prepaid cards allow round-the-clock and uninterrupted payment facilities. You do not have to worry about holidays or delays in the communications/payment networks. Carry on business, as usual!

2. Easy to use

Un enorme vantaggio di effettuare pagamenti con carte prepagate virtuali è che non è necessario passare attraverso il processo formale di richiesta e approvazione dei pagamenti. Le carte prepagate virtuali possono essere create rapidamente e utilizzate subito. La presenza di queste carte elimina virtualmente la necessità di preoccuparsi dei costi di produzione e di consegna.

3. Accepted across geographies

Siete frustrati dall'idea di effettuare pagamenti transfrontalieri? Non preoccupatevi più! Le carte prepagate virtuali vi permettono di effettuare pagamenti oltre i confini internazionali senza problemi.

4. Zero fraud liability

Virtual prepaid cards aren’t physical items, so they dramatically reduce the chances of cloning and different types of payment fraud. Additionally, hackers can’t trace the details back to the original account. You also get the benefit of remotely freezing the card in real time.

Integrating rewards & incentives through virtual prepaid cards

Beyond just simplifying recurring international payments, virtual prepaid cards can also serve as powerful tools for rewarding and incentivizing employees, gig workers, and contractors across borders. With platforms like Xoxoday Plum, you can use virtual prepaid cards not only to manage payouts but also to disburse digital rewards—instantly and on a scale.

Whether you're recognizing a top-performing freelancer, running a milestone-based incentive campaign, or sending a thank-you reward to your agency partners, virtual prepaid cards offer a secure, flexible, and brand-friendly way to show appreciation.

Here are a few ways you can use them for rewards:

• Performance-based bonuses – Send timely incentives based on output or project completion.
• Milestone rewards – Celebrate anniversaries, campaign successes, or client wins with virtual cash.
• Festive gifting – Share prepaid card rewards during holidays, local festivals, or personal occasions.
• Referral incentives – Encourage word-of-mouth hiring by rewarding successful referrals.

This dual-purpose utility—handling payments and driving engagement through rewards—makes virtual prepaid cards a smart, multifunctional solution for modern global businesses.

How can Xoxoday Plum help you with virtual prepaid cards?

Xoxoday Plum lets you instantly issue virtual prepaid cards from popular networks like Visa and Mastercard to your payroll department, anytime and anywhere, to help your company make timely payments and remain a dependable business partner in these times of constant change.

What’s more, using Xoxoday Plum’s virtual prepaid cards, you unlock savings on processing fees and manual costs while getting the benefits of minimal processing and integration fees. These features allow you to avoid hassles like OTP-based authorizations and approval delays and continue uninterrupted payments to your business partners.