The 8 Best Virtual Credit Cards in July 2024

What Is a Virtual Credit Card?

So what is a virtual credit card and how does it work?

Simply put, a virtual credit card is a unique credit card number tied to your main credit card account that does not reveal your primary credit card number.

This allows you to use a different credit card number for each merchant you spend at, prevent fraudsters from getting your primary account details, and set spending limits or expiration dates for each virtual credit card.

All in all, virtual credit cards provide extra protection for online purchases, as well as the added convenience of managing and limiting spending with each virtual credit card number.

Top Picks (Quick Summary)

1. Citi Premier Card (Top Pick)

The Citi Premier card is one of the best credit cards for everyday spending. It helps that Citi offers the ability to create virtual credit cards!

There’s no monthly fee for virtual credit cards, but you do need to enroll before creating your first virtual credit card. After that, just visit the Citi website and create one whenever you need a virtual credit card.

Just keep in mind that virtual credit card numbers can’t be used for in-person or in-app purchases.

In addition to a fantastic welcome offer, expect to earn up to 3x ThankYou Points on your purchases:

• 3x points per $1 spent on air travel and at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and hotels
• 1x points per $1 spent on all other purchases

We value ThankYou Points at 1.6 cents each, but you can certainly get better value by transferring to travel partners for luxury flights!

Additionally, this card has an annual hotel savings benefit of $100 off a stay of at least $500 when booked through thankyou.com or 800-THANKYOU (once per calendar year).

Lastly, there are no foreign transaction fees or authorized user fees.

2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Capital One offers Eno, a credit card assistant, in the form of a browser extension and app tool, to help you shop securely online.

With Eno, you can create virtual credit cards to hide your real credit card number — lock, unlock, or delete your virtual cards anytime and fully control your online shopping security.

The Capital One Venture X card is an incredible credit card option — offering a huge welcome offer, excellent rewards, and fantastic benefits, this should be a contender for a slot in your wallet.

You’ll earn:

• 10x miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
• 5x miles per $1 on flights booked via Capital One Travel
• 2x miles per $1 on all other purchases

To build on that, this card boasts up to $300 annual travel credit on Capital One Travel bookings, 10,000 bonus miles on each account anniversary year, access to airport lounges including Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and Priority Pass Select lounges, and up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit.

Throw in complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, cell phone insurance, up to 4 authorized users for no additional annual fee, and the ability to create virtual credit cards, and you’ve got a winner!

Lastly, take note of no foreign transaction fees, and high-end travel insurance.

3. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture card is the little sibling card of the Capital One Venture X card. With this card, you’ll still get the ability to create virtual credit cards, maintain simple structures, and get a welcome offer.

You’ll still earn unlimited 2x miles on every purchase, but you’ll also get 5x points on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

Enjoy up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, solid travel insurance, no foreign transaction fees (rates & fees), and no authorized user fees (rates & fees).

4. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One VentureOne card is the entry-level product that Capital One offers within the Venture family. This card can create virtual credit cards via Eno, which is a huge plus.

Your welcome offer won’t be as large, but you will earn:

• 5x miles on hotels and rentals cars booked via Capital One Travel
• 1.25x miles on all other purchases

There’s also an introductory 0% APR benefit (rates & fees) you can take advantage of, no foreign transaction fees, the ability to transfer miles to travel partners, and no authorized user fees.

5. Citi Double Cash^® Card

The Double Cash card is yet another great example of a Citi card that offers rewards and a virtual credit card number.

Currently, the Double Cash card has an attractive 0% balance transfer APR, but the real reason to use this card is to earn up to 2% cash-back per dollar spent.

By itself, the Double Cash card earns 1% back when you buy and 1% back when you pay, totaling 2% cash-back (earned as 2x ThankYou Points).

But what’s special about the Double Cash card is that if you have a card such as the Citi Premier card, you can combine the ThankYou Points you earn to transfer them to the full suite of Citi’s travel partners. That means that the 2x ThankYou Points you earn could deliver a return on spend of 3.2%!

This card comes with zero fraud liability, access to Citi Entertainment, and no authorized user fees.

The 3 Best Amex Personal Cards With Click to Pay

American Express doesn’t offer true virtual credit cards for personal products, but it partners with Visa, Mastercard, and Discover to offer Click to Pay, an online payment method that effectively shields your credit card number from merchants to simplify and secure the checkout process.

As such, some Amex cards do enjoy an additional layer of security thanks to Click to Pay, but these cards can’t give you a true virtual credit card number like Capital One and Citi can.

But since American Express offers such attractive rewards and benefits, you should give these next cards some thought.

Card	Earnings and Benefits	Annual Fee
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 80,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. The best airport lounge access from any card, including Centurion Lounges 5x points per $1 spent for flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel up to $500,000 per year, and prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel	$695 (rates & fees)
American Express® Gold Card	Limited Time Offer: Earn 60,000 points after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months. Plus, receive 20% back in statement credits at restaurants worldwide within the first 6 months, up to $100 back. Offer ends 11/6/24. 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants (up to $50,000 per year; 1x thereafter) 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year; 1x thereafter) Access to The Hotel Collection	$325 (rates & fees)
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express	Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months. 6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year) and on select U.S. streaming subscriptions 3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations and on transit, including taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more	$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 (rates & fees)

1. The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Amex Platinum card currently has an enormous welcome offer, the best airport lounge access benefit of any card out there, excellent travel rewards, and other high-end benefits.

To start, earn according to this list:

• 5x Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel
• 1x Membership Rewards points everywhere else

This card comes with access to the incredible Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection, plus a ton of annual or monthly statement credits from merchants including Uber, Equinox, Saks Fifth Avenue, and even airline fee credits and prepaid hotel credits on eligible Amex Travel bookings.

Plus, there are no foreign transaction fees (see rates & fees).

2. American Express^® Gold Card

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points + up to $100 back. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

The Amex Gold card is yet another fantastic card that offers Click to Pay. With an attractive welcome offer and the ability to earn up to 4x points, this card is one of our top favorites.

Get up to 4x Membership Rewards points as follows:

• 4x Membership Rewards points per $1 spent at restaurants, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. (up to $50,000 per year)
• 4x Membership Rewards points per $1 spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year)
• 3x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or on Amex Travel

The Amex Gold card has access to The Hotel Collection, and you won’t be hit with any foreign transaction fees or authorized user fees, either, so the card is packed to the brim with value (rates & fees).

3. Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express

We’re big fans of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card because it offers fantastic cash-back rewards fit for frugal families.

When you use Click to Pay, you don’t need to worry about your card information getting compromised online — that makes it easy to get up to 6% cash-back:

• 6% cash-back back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)
• 6% cash-back on select streaming services
• 3% back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including rideshares, parking, etc.)
• 1% back on all other purchases

Also, this card has a statement credit welcome offer and an introductory 0% APR promotion.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024.  Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier.  Additional terms apply.

Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024.  Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier.  Additional terms apply.