A virtual card is a payment card with no plastic: it has a number, an expiry date and a CVV but exists only in an app or a bank’s online account.
In plain words
It is issued in minutes and used for online payments or added to Apple Pay or Google Pay. It is often linked to the same account as your main card but has a separate number. That is handy for subscriptions and unfamiliar websites: if the details leak, switching off a virtual card is easier than reissuing the main one. Some virtual cards are single-use or have their own spending limit.
Example. For a trial subscription you create a virtual card with a UAH 100 limit: even if the service tries to charge more, the payment will not go through (the numbers are illustrative).