How virtual cards can unlock working capital and drive efficiencies

For finance and treasury leaders, modern payment solutions are becoming an increasingly important part of how organisations manage liquidity and financial operations.

As Denham Martil, Commonwealth Bank’s Director Treasury Solutions, says, “The future of treasury management lies in smarter, more integrated payment infrastructure. Our virtual cards are a key enabler, increasingly used for higher-value supplier payments to drive working capital optimisation, as well as operational and balance sheet efficiency.”

By combining automation, security controls and enriched transaction data, virtual cards are helping large corporations modernise their payments processes while unlocking tangible financial benefits.

Optimising working capital 

Many suppliers rely on predictable payment cycles to manage their own liquidity, while large organisations must balance this with tight control over working capital and cash flow. Virtual cards help businesses manage both priorities.

A virtual card is a 16-digit card number generated for a specific transaction or supplier payment and can be used anywhere globally. Unlike a traditional corporate card, it can be configured with precise controls, including a defined value, currency, date range, and merchant category restrictions. 

Stacy Herbert, Commonwealth Bank’s Executive Manager, Corporate Cards, says corporate card specialists can analyse an organisation’s supplier base upfront to identify key merchants that are more likely to accept card payments or represent stronger opportunities for card adoption. “That allows us to quantify the working capital benefit and potential process efficiencies and advise clients on the most effective working capital solution to use.” 

Card payments can also benefit suppliers, as well as buyers.  Suppliers accepting card payments receive funds immediately. However, the corporate buyer settles the payment with the bank via a delayed interest free payment timeframe. 

This separation between supplier payments and corporate settlements effectively extends payment terms positively impacting a clients days payable outstanding while maintaining prompt supplier payments. This results in improved liquidity management and greater flexibility in deploying working capital.

“In a global study commissioned by Mastercard, 83% of organisations said they needed better working capital tools to improve their financial position¹. High inflation, interest rates and geopolitical factors have heightened those ecosystem needs. Virtual cards as a payment option are a powerful solution, giving businesses greater control, visibility and flexibility while unlocking faster, more efficient access to working capital,” says Martil. 

In addition, virtual cards support more predictable and transparent cash flow management. Consolidated statements and consistent settlement cycles improve visibility over outgoing payments, enabling more accurate forecasting and more strategic use of working capital, potentially reducing reliance on short-term financing.

Safeguarding against fraud and scams

Virtual cards are a powerful safeguard against payment fraud because they replace static card details with dynamically generated, transaction-specific credentials. 

Each virtual card number can be restricted by supplier, amount, currency or timeframe, making it useless outside its intended use. This sharply reduces exposure to common scams such as phishing, card skimming and business email compromise, where fraudsters reuse stolen payment details. 

“Combined with real-time controls and visibility, virtual cards give treasury teams a tighter grip on who is paying whom, for what, and when, closing many of the gaps that traditional card and invoice-based payments leave open,” says Herbert.

Driving automation and finance transformation

Beyond the cash flow and security benefits, the operational impact of virtual cards can be significant.

Large organisations are increasingly pursuing finance transformation initiatives focused on automation, digitisation, and data visibility. Virtual cards integrate seamlessly into this transformation and one of the most powerful capabilities is straight-through processing.

Virtual cards can integrate directly with enterprise resource planning systems, procurement platforms, and accounts payable workflows. When an invoice or purchase order is approved, a virtual card can be generated automatically and used to complete the transaction. This reduces manual intervention and accelerates payment cycles.

Integration also supports automated reconciliation. Virtual card transactions carry enriched remittance data that is attached to card payments. This data can include invoice details, supplier information, and other transaction attributes that simplify matching payments to invoices within finance systems.

“By capturing key data at the point of payment, organisations can significantly reduce invoice disputes, eliminate manual reconciliation processes, and accelerate month-end close cycles,” Herbert says. “The administrative impact is substantial. Finance teams spend less time resolving payment queries and more time focusing on more strategic aspects of financial management”.

Virtual cards also allow organisations to streamline legacy payment methods. Companies can transition suppliers away from manual payment methods, such as EFT or cheques, and move recurring payments off employee corporate cards, ensuring payments are no longer tied to individual staff members. 

For certain categories of spend, such as travel procurement, virtual cards can also capture detailed contextual data at the time of booking. This can include information such as travel details, staff identifiers, and trip purpose, improving reporting and transparency. 

“These capabilities support broader digitalisation strategies and enable finance teams to build more scalable and efficient payment operations,” Herbert says.

Building the future of treasury

As Martil says, “The role of treasury has expanded beyond financial oversight. Finance teams are now expected to deliver strategic insight, operational efficiency, and leverage technology to enhance financial processes. Payments innovation plays an increasingly important role in enabling these outcomes.”

Virtual cards demonstrate how modern payment solutions can support this evolution. By improving liquidity management, strengthening supplier relationships, and increasing operational efficiency, they can help organisations unlock value from their financial operations. 

From a corporate cards perspective, Stacy Herbert says the priority is to make virtual card capabilities practical and accessible for clients.  “That means integrating with existing finance systems, supporting large-scale procurement environments and enabling efficient deployment,” says Herbert.

For organisations progressing toward digital procurement and automated accounts payable, virtual cards provide a natural extension of that transformation. They allow businesses to embed secure, controlled payments directly into their workflows while maintaining visibility and control.

“Organisations are looking for payment solutions that combine security, automation, and financial optimisation and virtual cards deliver on all three fronts,” Martil concludes. 

By combining deep client understanding with continued investment in innovation, CommBank is committed to helping Australian organisations modernise their financial operations and build more resilient, future-ready finance functions. To learn more about virtual cards and CommBank’s approach to supporting treasury and finance teams, reach out to your relationship contact.