American Express Virtual Credit Cards: What They Are and How To Get One

• Written by Robin Saks Frankel
  

  Robin Saks Frankel

  Credit, credit cards, travel rewards, credit building, family travel, premium travel

  Robin has worked as a personal finance writer, editor and spokesperson for over a decade. Her work has appeared in national publications including Forbes Advisor, USA TODAY, NerdWallet, Bankrate and HerMoney. She holds an M.S. in Business and Economic Journalism from Boston University, a Poynter ACES Certificate in Editing and is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®).

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• Edited by Emily Gadd
  

  Emily Gadd

  Credit Cards, Personal Finance, Health and Wellness

  Emily Gadd is a certified credit counselor, editor and personal finance expert responsible for writing about personal finance and credit cards. She got her start writing and editing at Healthline. She is passionate about creating educational content that makes complex topics accessible. Emily holds a credit counselor certification, accredited by the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors (NACCC). She lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats.

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• Reviewed by Jasmin Baron
  

  Jasmin Baron

  Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

  Jasmin Baron is CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.

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• Last Updated Dec 4, 2025

From household staples to bigger buys, it’s likely you’ve entered your credit card number online to make a purchase. With millions of people making payments online, there’s an increased risk that fraudsters can steal your information. 

A virtual credit card can offer an extra layer of protection, and American Express cardholders can take advantage of this feature to shop smarter and safer online.

What Is an American Express Virtual Card?

An American Express virtual card number is a digital version of your physical American Express card that you can use for online or in-app purchases in a Google Chrome browser or Android mobile device. Instead of entering your real 15-digit number, security code and expiration date, Amex can create a separate set of numbers, including card number and expiration date for the merchant. 

When you check out with your virtual card number, the issuer will also create a four-digit verification code (sometimes called the CVV or card verification value code) to complete the transaction.

What’s the Benefit of Using a Virtual Card Number?

By using a virtual card number, your real account information is protected, so if there’s a data breach or your information is otherwise exposed, your actual card number is safe. You can easily cancel your virtual number without requiring Amex to send you a new physical card. Your saved card details, mobile wallet and recurring payments, like subscriptions or other monthly fixed bills, will remain uninterrupted.

For example, my family wanted to try out a specific streaming subscription on a recent vacation, as it had a couple of movies my two kids were eager to see while we were in transit. The streaming service offered a 7-day free trial before charging a $60-plus annual subscription. After watching a total of one movie, we decided it wasn’t worth the price to continue. 

By design, subscription services can be challenging to cancel, since the provider only gains from having you as a paying customer. But using a virtual card to pay meant that I wouldn’t risk being charged even if I couldn’t figure out how to reach a representative to cancel, since I could just delete the virtual card number.

How To Get an American Express Virtual Card 

American Express doesn’t offer a standalone virtual card number generator like some other issuers do. You can get a virtual Amex card number through specific browsers and checkout flows. As of this writing, Amex only supports virtual card numbers via Google Chrome and Android. If your preferred browser or mobile phone is something else, you won’t be able to get a virtual Amex card number. 

Steps To Get an Amex Virtual Card Number:

1. Open a Chrome browser on your computer or Android device. This won’t work on other browsers.

2. Add the items you want to your cart.

3. At checkout, add your American Express card as a saved payment method.

4. Choose your Amex card to pay, and you’ll receive a message asking if you want to create a virtual number for the transaction. Confirm, and the virtual card number will be saved in Google Pay.

5. Complete your transaction. The charge will be routed to your actual Amex account, and any rewards or other benefits will apply to the virtual number just like they would to your actual account number.

Where Can You Use an Amex Virtual Card?

You can use an Amex virtual card just about anywhere that accepts Amex for an electronic payment when you’re shopping via Chrome or an Android device. However, you can’t use an Amex virtual card number anywhere that requires a physical card to be present. Places where you can use your Amex virtual card include:

• Online purchases
• Tap-to-pay terminals, like gas stations and supermarkets
• Subscriptions, streaming services and other recurring payments
• Food deliveries
• Travel purchases
• One-time purchases

Benefits of American Express Virtual Credit Cards

Using an Amex virtual card number comes with several advantages:

• Extra security when shopping online
• Protection of your real card number from security breaches or hacks
• The ability to be replaced quickly without disrupting your physical card
• Ideal for trial subscriptions or unfamiliar websites
• Can work seamlessly with Google browsers and Android devices to autofill your information for a faster checkout experience
• Limits your main account exposure

Drawbacks of American Express Virtual Credit Cards

As helpful as an Amex virtual card can be, it does have some limitations:

• Only available with certain browsers and mobile devices
• There’s no dedicated virtual card number generator through Amex
• It can’t be used for in-person or chip-based transactions
• Not all retailers accept virtual cards
• Refunds may require accessing the virtual card number

How Do Amex Virtual Credit Cards Compare to Others?

Feature	American Express	Bank of America	Capital One	Citi
Standalone virtual card generator	No	Yes, via mobile wallets only	Yes, via online account, mobile app or Eno account assistant	Yes, via Google Pay, Citi account or Citi app
Works for in-person transactions	No	No	No	No
Ease of setup	Moderate	Easy	Easy	Easy
Browser compatibility	Chrome	None, only via mobile wallets	Any	Any
Mobile wallet compatibility	Google Pay, Android	Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay	Google Pay, Android	Google Pay, Android, iPhone *but need to generate a new CVV with each purchase