What is the difference between a virtual card and a physical card?

When creating a Payment Instrument (PI) you have the option to create a Physical or Virtual Card as per your business requirement by specifying the formFactor as ‘virtual’ or ‘physical’ in the payment instrument creation API request.

In the table below you can find important characteristics of each type.

Payment instrument type

Features

Online payments

In-store payments

ATM withdrawal*
*if the capability is allowed

Virtual

  • No physical body

  • Has a card number, expiry date and CVC2

✅

⚠️

Supported only in combination with Wallets

Please reach out to your Adyen contact for guidelines.

Physical

  • Physical plastic body

  • Has a card number, expiry date, CVC2 and a PIN

✅

✅

✅