The next phase of virtual card growth is about helping businesses stay in control as they scale.
Where virtual cards become part of the business
● INSIDE THE SMALL AND MIDDLE MARKET
As small and mid-sized businesses grow, virtual cards often begin to play a much bigger role
What changes operationally as SMEs grow?
What growing businesses need more of
employees, payments become more than a transaction challenge. They become a systems challenge.
Small business (<50 employees)
88
%
96
%
*Global Virtual Card Research, Kaiser Associates, commissioned by Mastercard, 2025. All data points cited are from this source unless otherwise noted.
© 1994-2026 Mastercard.
Catch up on the second article in the series: Virtual cards: from security to confidence at scale
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Virtual cards become more essential as SME revenue grows
consider virtual cards essential to day-to-day operations
Show how virtual cards can support broader business needs beyond a single payment.
of higher-earning SMEs
of the top 5%
Manual processes may still be manageable
Informal controls can work
Payments remain task-oriented
Middle market (50-250 employees)
More employees and suppliers create complexity
Payments are harder to manage across teams
Governance becomes more important
Visibility and reconciliation are harder to maintain
At
50+
57%
of SMEs globally that have not yet used virtual cards say they would use them for employee expenses first.
That is when they become more than a way to pay. They become part of how a business runs and grows.
When virtual cards are built into everyday processes and connected to the systems businesses already use, they can support greater control, visibility and efficiency.
● From payment tool to everyday operations
That is when they become more than a way to pay. They become part of how a business runs and grows.
Employee expenses can be an entry point to virtual cards
● What this means for partners
