Top 6 virtual debit and credit cards in Malaysia 2023

Having a virtual card can mean less to carry, and an extra layer of protection when you’re shopping online. If you’re considering getting a virtual debit card, a digital credit card, a virtual prepaid card or a virtual cash card, you’re in the right place.

We’ll take a look through your options for Malaysian virtual credit cards, and some of the very best virtual debit cards in the Malaysian market, to help you pick the right one for you.

Table of contents
Why are virtual cards useful? Overview of best virtual cards in Malaysia Wise Card BigPay Virtual Card GoPayz Virtual Prepaid Cards HSBC Virtual Credit Card MAE Virtual Card Alliance Bank Virtual Visa card Summary

What is a virtual card?

A virtual card works just like a physical card in many ways - the key difference being that a virtual card exists only on your phone or computer. There’s no physical card to use for making withdrawals, or to present at a checkout - but you can still use your virtual debit card or virtual credit card when making mobile payments online and in person and when shopping with ecommerce stores.

You’ll be able to get either a virtual debit card or a virtual credit card, depending on your preferences. Just as with the physical versions of these cards, a virtual debit card can only be used to spend up to the balance you hold in the linked bank or specialist account. A virtual credit card on the other hand can be used to spend to your pre-agreed credit limit, with interest accumulating if you don’t repay your bill in full every month.

Virtual debit and credit card benefits

There are a lot of benefits of using a virtual card as opposed to a physical card. Here are a few reasons you might consider moving over to virtual cards for your day to day spending:

• Virtual cards have different numbers to your physical cards, which increases security
• Virtual cards can often be generated instantly and for free as long as you have a provider account or card already
• Destroy and replace your virtual cards whenever you need to, or if you think the card details have been compromised
• You don’t need to carry round a physical card - convenient, if you’re making mobile payments anyway
• No need to wait for a physical card to arrive in the mail
• Virtual cards are better for the environment than physical cards

Best virtual cards in Malaysia

Before we look at our selection of the best virtual cards in Malaysia in more detail, let’s get an overview. We’ll compare our 6 top picks across some key features to help you see what your options are.

	Card type	Availability	Maintenance fee	ATM fees (linked physical card)	Foreign transaction fee	Benefits
Virtual Wise Card	Debit card	Personal customers	No fee	2 withdrawals to 1,000 MYR/month for free - low fees after that¹⁰	No fee to spend currencies in your account	Hold and exchange 50+ currencies, get paid for free from 30+ countries
BigPay Virtual Card	Debit card	Personal customers	No fee	6 MYR in Malaysia, 10 MYR internationally¹	1% plus network charges	Manage in the BigPay app, spend globally
GoPayz Virtual Prepaid Card	Debit card	Personal customers	No fee	1 MYR in Malaysia, 10 MYR internationally²	Conversion uses a correspondent bank rate, which is likely to include a fee	GoPayz has a broad range of account and additional services
HSBC Virtual Credit Card	Credit cards - debit cards may also be available based on account type	Business customers	Varies by account type	Varies by account type	Varies by account type	Cards available based on business needs and the linked HSBC Business account you hold
MAE Virtual Card	Debit cards	Personal customers	8 MYR/year	Free with MayBank ATMs	Conversion uses Maybank’s rate, which is likely to include a fee³	MAE can be set to automatically top up its balance from another linked Maybank account
Alliance Bank Virtual Visa Card	Credit cards	Personal customers	No fee	Cash advance fees apply⁴	1%	Several different card options with their own reward earning programmes

Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information

Wise Card - most international virtual Visa card

Get a Wise virtual card which is issued on the Visa network for use in 170+ countries, by registering a Wise multi-currency account and ordering your Wise physical card for a small one time fee. Use your Wise account to hold 50+ currencies - and spend any currency you hold for free with your virtual Wise card.

Switch currencies in your account, or let your card’s autoconvert features convert to the required currency, with the mid-market exchange rate and low fees from 0.41%.

Use your Wise card when you travel or shop online with international retailers. We’ll cover how to generate your Wise virtual card just a moment.

Virtual Visa card, which works alongside the physical Wise card Spending in 170+ countries, with 50+ currencies available for holding and exchange Convert currencies with the mid-market exchange rate and low fees from 0.41% if you don’t have a balance in the currency you need Hold up to 3 virtual cards at a time

Here’s how to order a Wise virtual card:

1. Register a Wise account online or in the Wise app
2. Get verified by uploading your ID document¹¹
3. Open a currency balance in the currency of your choice, and add funds
4. Order a physical card and pay the low, one time fee
5. Generate your Wise virtual card in the Wise app
6. Your virtual card is available for immediate use - your physical card will arrive in the mail a little later

Get your Wise card today!

Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information

BigPay Virtual Card - earn AirAsia points as you spend

BigPay⁵ is a popular ewallet which offers account services and linked physical and virtual cards to customers. You can order your BigPay physical card when you open an account, and then generate a virtual card to use for mobile payments or when you want that extra bit of security. Virtual cards can be replaced monthly if needed.

BigPay has a fairly low foreign transaction fee of 1% + network charges, so although you can only hold MYR in your account, it may be cheaper for overseas spending than using a regular bank debit card.

Visa or Mastercard issued physical and virtual cards, accepted at 40 million global merchants Manage your card, freeze and unfreeze in the BigPay app Get the same benefits as when you use your physical BigPay card, including AirAsia points Delete and create a new card, once a month if you want to

Learn more about BigPay, and the BigPay card in this review.

GoPayz Virtual Prepaid Cards - virtual cards on Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay networks

GoPayz⁶ ewallet has a broad range of features from account services to insurance, currency conversion and more. As soon as your GoPayz account has been approved you’ll be able to generate a virtual card to use for instant online and mobile spending - even before your physical card has been delivered.

Issued on Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay networks for global coverage Low local ATM fee of 1 MYR per withdrawal No fee for a virtual card - there’s a small charge for a physical card to go with your virtual card option Spend online and in person by adding your card to a mobile wallet

Get your guide to GoPayz Malaysia here.

HSBC Virtual Credit Card - business credit cards to suit different customer needs

HSBC Malaysia⁷ offers virtual cards for business customers, which come with a range of features depending on your account type and your business needs. Virtual cards can be used to make flexible online payments and to make it easier to report and analyse business spending.

Credit and debit cards may be offered virtually, depending on your business account type Set and manage spending limits for team members who hold and use virtual cards Virtual cards can be integrated to online payment systems to reduce admin time Broad selection of corporate cards depending on needs

MAE Virtual Card - pair your MAE ewallet with a virtual card for easy mobile spending

Maybank’s MAE⁸ account and card is a handy wallet you can top up manually or automatically from a linked Maybank account. MAE gives insights into how you’re spending your money, and comes with physical and virtual cards for easy spending online and in person.

When you use a MAE virtual debit card internationally you’ll get a preferential exchange rate - and if you have a physical MAE card too, you can make cash withdrawals for free at any of Maybank’s huge ATM network.

Physical and virtual cards linked to the MAE ewallet, designed for easy mobile spending Automatically top up your MAE account so you don’t run short of funds in your account Low 8 MYR/year fee to pay Preferential exchange rates when spending in foreign currencies

Learn more about the Maybank MAE card in this full guide.

Alliance Bank Virtual Visa card - credit cards with reward earning opportunities

Alliance Bank⁹ has a couple of virtual Visa cards, offered in partnership with third party companies. In fact, Alliance states that these are Malaysia’s first in app virtual credit card products.

The Alliance card options are credit cards rather than debit cards - and this means you can earn rewards when you spend, based on the account you select. Virtual cards from Alliance have no annual fees, and can be managed and reviewed entirely from your banking app for convenient ways to manage your money on the move.

Cards issues in partnership with MCash or a dental company, Dental Mall Options to earn rewards and discounts as you spend In app card management features for convenience Visa network cards, which means that they have great global coverage

Summary - which virtual card should you choose in Malaysia?

There’s no single best virtual card in Malaysia. Which suits you will depend on whether you want a virtual card for yourself, or a virtual business card, and your personal preferences.

Some Malaysian virtual cards have specific features, such as reward earning options, or - like the Wise virtual card - great international features which can drive down the costs of spending. Before you pick the card that suits your needs best it’s worth comparing a few, including both cards from traditional banks and specialist services, to see which will offer the best value for the type of transactions you make often.

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Sources:

1. BigPay card fees
2. GoPayz PDS
3. MAE PDS
4. Alliance PDS
5. BigPay virtual card
6. GoPayz
7. HSBC Virtual card
8. MAE virtual card
9. Alliance Bank virtual card
10. Wise will not charge you for these withdrawals, but some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks.
11. Wise may request additional documents to verify a customer's identity.

Sources checked on 07/03/2023