Single-use cards are virtual debit cards that automatically close after one approved purchase. They're useful for one-time transactions and may help reduce the risk of unauthorized charges if a merchant stores your card details.
This article explains how to create a single-use card and what happens after you've used it.
Create a single-use card
You can create single-use cards from your Mercury dashboard on web.
- Go to your Cards page
- Click Create card
- Select a Cardholder and enter a Card nickname
- Under "Type," select Virtual
- Under "Usage (optional)," check Single-use
- Configure any additional settings, including spend controls, as needed
- Click Create card
How single-use cards work
A single-use card automatically closes after its first approved purchase over $0. Once closed, its status changes to Used, and it can't be reopened.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Declined transactions and $0 authorization checks won't count as a purchase, so your card will remain active
- Since the card can only be used once, avoid using it for subscriptions or free trials that may result in future charges
- You can still receive refunds on a used card or dispute a transaction as you normally would
- Charges submitted without an authorization request (known as "force posts") can still be processed, even if your single-use card has already been used or is past its custom expiration date. If the card hasn't been used yet, the transaction will mark it as used and close it.
If you need to make another payment, you can create a new single-use or standard card.
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.
The Mercury Debit Cards are issued by Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC, pursuant to licenses from Mastercard®.