Bankwest has introduced a new virtual card feature, giving its banking app users the option to make everyday payments without disclosing details of their physical debit or credit card.

The ‘pay and vanish’ digital card enables customers to pay using a time-limited (available as a single or multi-use) digital version of their debit or credit card.

Each virtual card, generated through the Bankwest App, features a unique card number, expiry date, and CVV, with optional spend and time limits for multi-use cards.

Bankwest said its customers may opt to use a virtual card when transacting with less familiar establishments, such as a new physical or web-based store, a new merchant, or when travelling, with payments receivers only able to retain a virtual card’s time-limited details.

Bankwest chief digital officer Eleanor Bensley said the virtual cards provide the bank’s customers with an “added layer of protection from scams, fraud or unwanted transactions”.

“We know many of our customers are seeking simpler, less complicated ways to make day-to-day payments, especially when shopping on websites they haven’t used before, or when travelling overseas, or transacting with new merchants.

She added: “Our virtual cards feature is the latest in a series of uncomplicated and genuinely useful experiences designed to help customers know where their money is, move it easily and hit their property goals, with more to come this year.

“Bankwest’s aim is to create a digital banking experience that truly stands out in the Australian financial services landscape, and which is designed to meet the needs of a growing number of customers and brokers nationwide.”

Australians lost more than $860 million to card fraud in FY24, according to figures from AusPayNet, with card-not-present (CNP) fraud – where an individual uses card information to complete a transaction without a physical card present – accounting for 92 per cent of all card fraud.

AusPayNet found surging rates of CNP fraud last year, with an overall increase of 29 per cent, year-over-year (y-o-y), to $785 million.

More than $351 million of these losses were accounted for domestically (up 12 per cent y-o-y), while $434 million was lost overseas (up 20 per cent y-o-y).