Merchant-Locked Cards
Merchant Cards cards can be used as many times as you’d like with the same merchant, but lock to the first merchant they're used with. Once a card is locked, any attempt to use a Merchant-Locked Card with any other merchant will be declined. This ensures that a breach at one merchant doesn't put you at risk across the internet.
Merchant-Locked Cards are great for:
- Subscriptions
- Recurring transactions
- Merchants you spend at frequently
- Backordered items
- Orders for multiple items that ship incrementally
- Pre-order sales
Category-Locked Cards
Category Cards allow you to manage your spending across different budget categories. These cards can only be used at merchants that fall within a pre-defined spending category. For example, a Category Card for “Groceries” can be used at several different merchants as long as they all fall under grocery or supermarket-related categories. Trying to use your “Groceries” card at a hardware store would result in a decline.
Category-Locked Cards are great for:
- Managing your budget across different spending categories
- Recurring transactions of the same merchant type
- Monthly allowance for family members (see Shared Cards)
Category Cards are only available to Plus ($5/month) and above subscribers.
Single-Use Cards
These cards are displayed as red with a flame icon. They automatically close shortly after your first transaction greater than $1 is successfully authorized.
This doesn't include first connecting a card to a merchant for a pre-order, free trial, or other scenario in which the merchant chooses to bill for the transaction at a later date.
Single-Use Cards are great for:
- Merchants you don’t plan on shopping with again
- If you’re concerned about the security of a transaction
When creating a new card using a web browser, it will default to a Merchant Card. Once created, to change a virtual card to single-use, select Spend Limit and then toggle the Single-Use option.