# The value of paying providers with virtual cards

Millions of Americans need help filling the gap between their insurance coverage and the cost of discretionary health care treatments and equipment. Many seek short-term financing to cover veterinary care for their pets, cosmetic procedures for themselves, orthodontic care for their children, or to purchase medical equipment for loved ones. The payment experience for the consumer may be smooth and seamless. It may even appear to be instantaneous. But behind the scenes, a different payment reality is playing out between lender and provider.

## Virtual cards can offer health care providers a smooth and seamless payment experience.

### Your customer’s puppy needs urgent care

- Customer asks you for a short-term loan
- Behind the scenes, you send the veterinarian a check

## Slower payments and higher costs

Financing companies typically pay providers using checks or through Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposits. But these solutions are slow and can be vulnerable to fraud. Compared to modern payment solutions, they typically increase the cost of each transaction.

## Faster payments and greater security

Financing companies that rely on payment solutions based on modern card issuing are often able to pay providers faster and with a reduced risk that account information will be misused. Also, interchange fees collected as part of the transaction can help offset payment costs.

## Virtual cards benefit lenders and providers

Paying a health care provider with a virtual card rather than with a check or through ACH can enable the provider to get reimbursed faster and more efficiently. At the same time, lenders avoid the costs associated with creating, mailing, and reconciling paper checks. Since virtual card payments do not require integration with an electronic funds transfer system, lenders can more easily onboard new providers.

### Benefits
- Real-time reimbursement
- Simplified onboarding
- Easier reconciliation

A virtual card payment can be sent to any provider who accepts ordinary credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Unlike checks or ACH, claim numbers can easily be appended to virtual cards to assist in reconciliation.

### Your customer’s child needs braces

- You approve the customer for financing
- You instantly provision a virtual card to the customer’s digital wallet to pay the orthodontist

### Quote
"With Marqeta and the virtual cards that we leverage, fraud is close to zero."  
— Bob Kaufman, CEO, ConnexPay

## The modern card issuing advantage

Virtual cards have changed a lot since they were first introduced twenty years ago. In place of traditional programs, modern card issuing platforms like Marqeta give customers the ability to customize payment solutions using open APIs. While legacy card programs can be inflexible and typically offer little visibility into their technology, Marqeta provides in-depth developer documentation, API specifications, and an advanced developer sandbox. This allows companies to launch payment solutions tailored to their unique business needs.