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Mastercard In Control

Unlock more value with virtual cards

Mastercard In Control™ is a virtual card management platform that helps financial institutions deliver simple, secure and scalable payment experiences for their corporate customers.

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#1

Mastercard ranked #1 in the virtual cards market, surpassing 16 companies [¹]

92%

Satisfaction score among financial institutions who use In Control regularly [²]

43

countries served

174

currencies supported

 ~20 

years of innovation

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poster

Get more out of virtual cards

In Control creates value for financial institutions, corporates and B2B platforms, all from one platform.

For financial institutions

Grow your corporate portfolio

Drive higher returns, client stickiness and credit line utilization while reducing fraud and unauthorized spending.

For corporates

Stay in control of payments

Virtual cards bring the security and control corporates need, while delivering the speed and simplicity they expect.

For platforms

Embed virtual cards into workflows

Embed virtual cards into companies' existing operating infrastructure, supporting client retention and incremental revenue.

CASE STUDY: CORPORATES

In Control customer success

See how In Control helps turn virtual card payments into efficiency, growth and working capital opportunities.

$100m supplier payments consolidated using virtual cards

Leading retailer in North America

Read case study

PARTNER TESTIMONIALS 

Trusted by the partners powering virtual card payments

From global banks to leading B2B platforms, our partners trust In Control to power secure, virtual card payments at scale.

“As virtual card adoption accelerates, our clients need smarter, stronger tools to manage risk. Our deep collaboration with Mastercard makes Citi the first issuer to deliver these advanced security capabilities to the market on a global scale, further reinforcing our industry leadership in this space. This is a direct reflection of our commitment to helping clients streamline payments and operate more securely and efficiently around the world.”

Scott Southall Global Head of Citi Commercial Cards & Domestic Payments, Citi

Our partnership with Mastercard helps Emburse make virtual cards a seamless part of everyday business workflows, giving customers greater security, control and visibility while simplifying how they manage and scale B2B payments.

Kalie Phillips Vice President, Product Management at Emburse

Mobile virtual cards represent an important evolution in how businesses manage payments, combining the control and security of virtual cards with the convenience of mobile wallets. Our collaboration with Mastercard has enabled us to bring this capability to customers in the UAE, providing greater flexibility in how they make payments while maintaining the controls and security businesses expect. We see significant potential for mobile virtual cards as more organizations look for simpler, more secure and digitally enabled ways to manage business payments.”

Saket Nailwal Regional Head of Commercial Cards, MENAT, HSBC

Our partnership with Mastercard marks an important step toward Autonomous Finance, embedding virtual card payments directly into the workflows our customers already run. Putting AI to work automates accounts payable, giving finance teams greater visibility and control at scale, helping organizations strengthen working capital and make it easier to realize the benefits of secure, automated commercial payments, wherever they run SAP.

Thomas Mehlkopf General Manager and Head of Treasury and Working Capital Management CoE at SAP SE

Travel has unique payment requirements, with complex booking journeys and multiple stakeholders involved in every transaction. At HBX Group, we are connecting bookings and payments more intelligently to simplify payment processes across the travel value chain. That's why our collaboration with Mastercard is so important: by combining our deep travel expertise with the scale and security of a global payments network, we can help deliver more seamless payment experiences for our partners.

Sofoklis Limniotis Director, Strategy & Solutions, HBX Group

Virtual card payments from start to finish

One platform helps businesses simplify and scale virtual card payments directly, or embedded within existing ERP, travel and procurement systems.

Create

Generate single or multi-use virtual cards, with built-in spend controls.

Deliver

Send virtual cards through mobile, email, web or straight-through processing.

Reconcile

Capture rich data on every payment to automate reconciliation.

Mobile delivery, with or without an app

Deliver virtual cards through mobile apps, or add them straight to a digital wallet from a web browser.

Built for the many ways businesses pay today

Designed for a wide range of B2B spending and payment scenarios where security, control and automation matter most.

Corporate travel and expense (T&E)

Businesses can use virtual cards for employee travel and on-trip expenses with T&E policy controls.

Procurement

Pay suppliers across purchase-order and procurement workflows.

B2B travel

Travel companies and online travel agencies (OTAs) can make virtual card payments to airlines, hotels and other travel suppliers.

DIFFERENTIATION 

What makes In Control different?

Meet evolving corporate payment needs with virtual card-enabled solutions that help you stay ahead.

Security and controls across the full lifecycle

Enforce controls from card creation through clearing, not just authorization, helping reduce over-posting, chargebacks and exceptions.

One connection, many capabilities

Scale virtual cards and more, through one connection to Mastercard Commercial Connect API, shortening integration time from months to days.

A growing embedded partner network

Run virtual cards inside the B2B platforms businesses already use, through our integrated partners, making it easier to add virtual cards to existing payment workflows.

Automatic reconciliation

Reconcile payments automatically with up to 99 data fields, reducing time and effort required for reconciliation.

A platform that's fast, always on and resilient

Run virtual card programs on one platform that keeps pace as your volume grows, keeping payment operations running reliably at scale.

BUILT FOR WHAT’S NEXT 

Innovate today while building for the future

In Control streamlines virtual card payments today, with the controls and data agent-led payments will rely on tomorrow.

Reimagine virtual card management to simplify B2B payments.

Contact us
Mastercard

Frequently asked questions

Virtual cards are payment options linked to underlying funding accounts. Based on the available balance of the funding account used, unique virtual card numbers can be generated while keeping the funding account number concealed. A virtual card number includes 16 digits, an expiration date and a three-digit card verification code (CVC).

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A virtual card number is generated from an underlying funding account and can be used for a specific payment or series of payments. Each virtual card number can include enhanced transaction data, such as invoice numbers, purchase order numbers and cost centers, to support approval workflows, reconciliation and reporting.

Organizations can define how virtual cards are used through controls such as single-use or multi-use settings, transaction amount limits and merchant category restrictions. All programs support approval workflows, which organizations can configure to align with business processes.

Virtual cards help organizations improve payment security, increase control over spending, automate reconciliation and gain greater visibility into transactions.

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Virtual cards help reduce fraud by generating a unique, single-use virtual card number for each transaction, rather than exposing the underlying physical account number (PAN) that's shared every time you use a plastic card. Organizations can also apply spending controls and usage parameters that help reduce unauthorized spending and misuse.

Virtual cards are commonly used for supplier payments, procurement, accounts payable, corporate travel, and employee expenses. Organizations use virtual cards wherever greater security, control and automation are needed.

Yes. Virtual card capabilities can be integrated into procurement, finance, travel and B2B platforms, helping organizations embed, issue and deliver secure payment experiences directly within existing workflows and business processes.

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[1]  Juniper Research, Global Virtual Card Market 2025–2029 – Competitor Leaderboard, March 2025. 

[2] Double-blind survey study conducted in July 2026 among 100 issuer participants who use Mastercard In Control. 

Virtual card solutions