Overview

Nium is a virtual card platform for businesses. Using Nium, you can issue and load cards on demand and track and reconcile your virtual card transactions.

What’s new in this version?

DATE	VERSION	DESCRIPTION
15th February 2021	3.69	Updated formatting to match brand guidelines
11th September 2021	3.79	Updates in Card History and Authorization screens
8th November 2021	3.81	Updates in Create Cards introducing Second Line on Cards
4th of April 2022	3.86	Introducing New Features: - Create Cards in Batch via File - Automated Card Clearance
12th of April 2022	3.86	Product and documentation rebranding
19th July 2022	3.90	Deprecate Create card in Batch
19th August 2022	3.91	Redirect hosting URLs from Ixaris into the Nium domain; enhancing supported encoding for CSV files in Create Cards in Bulk
2nd November 2022	3.94	Appendix: Create a card in Batch via File
12th January 2023	3.94	Product documentation transition to web view

Getting Started

What are virtual cards?

For many businesses, a virtual card is an excellent alternative to a corporate credit card. Just like traditional credit cards, you can use a virtual card to make purchases online or by phone. Virtual cards have a 16-digit card number, CVV, and expiry date. But unlike traditional cards, virtual cards are pre-paid, reducing the risk of fraud. Virtual cards are also cost-effective and make reconciliation more efficient and accurate.

Nium Portal

Nium has a web-based interface (web app) that does not require integration. You and your authorized users can access the Nium Portal using a secured credential-based system. You can perform most of the available operations via the web app via APIs.

Nium API

Nium also offers a set of APIs to integrate into your existing booking processes and systems. With our APIs, you can seamlessly generate, load, and delete cards from your systems without engaging in manual processes in the Nium Portal.

How will you benefit from using Nium?

This guide will walk you through the various actions and functions available within the Nium Portal and through the Nium API. Each activity and function has a range of benefits.


Automated reconciliation	You can easily automate transaction reconciliation by creating a unique card for every payment or merchant. You can also attach additional information (custom fields) to cards, enabling you to reconcile payments and supplier receipts without relying on third parties to send you purchase data.
Save on credit card surcharges	Some virtual cards can help you avoid the fees associated with credit or commercial cards.
Save on Forex costs	You can create cards in multiple currencies to save on the forex fees associated with cross-currency transactions.
Potential ancillary revenues	Some virtual cards allow you to generate new revenue streams, turning payment costs into profits.
Better payments oversight	Nium gives you a real-time view of card balances and purchasing activity. With its notification feature, you can even request alerts when a card balance reaches a certain threshold or when a transaction occurs.
Better control than corporate credit cards	With Nium, you can control employee purchases by simply issuing virtual cards on demand and loading them with the exact amount required for a transaction.
Eliminate wire transfers and physical cheques	Virtual cards are more cost-effective, easier to administer and offer better payment protection than wire transfers and physical cheques. Payments made with virtual cards are protected by Visa and Mastercard’s chargeback process, which can reverse card payments in the case of fraud, or if a merchant cannot honor a purchase or enters default. By contrast, wire transfers and cheques do not offer chargeback protection. And, if a wire transfer is made to the wrong account, you need to shoulder the administrative burden of attempting to reclaim it.
Multiple currency support	Nium allows you to create funding accounts and virtual cards in different currencies. The number of currencies you can access depends on your commercial agreement with Nium and available BIN types. With an ever-expanding banking network, we’re constantly adding new currencies. Ask your Nium Professional Services Manager for more details.
Less fraud exposure	Since virtual cards are prepaid, they significantly reduce fraud exposure and can eliminate the risk of duplicate or erroneous charges by suppliers. Nium’s scheduled loads feature further removes the risk of fraud by allowing you to choose the precise date and time to load cards. Fraud risk can be further reduced using the automated clearance feature so that cards will be automatically emptied and deleted.
Unlock working capital	Scheduled card loads not only reduce fraud - but also help you maximize working capital. Nium also offers credit funding to pre-approved companies. With credit funding, Nium users can load cards without topping up their funding accounts.
Comprehensive reporting	Our reporting system will give you and your financial team complete visibility of the movement of funds and purchase activities. You will see all fund movements from and to your funding accounts, all transactions performed on your virtual cards, and any scheduled payments.

How does Nium work?

With the Nium Portal, you can manage your funding accounts, create and load virtual cards, and track, monitor, and reconcile payments.
The Nium team will set up your Nium Portal account, configuring it for the requirements you identify during your onboarding.

Setting up a Nium company account

To get started, you must contact our Client Delivery team. We will set up your Nium company account and one or more funding accounts. You can manage your company and funding accounts through the Nium Portal.

Add money to your funding accounts

Money is deposited to a funding account before it is loaded onto a virtual card.
During your account setup, we create one or more funding accounts for you. Your team can create additional funding accounts after account creation.
You must add money to your funding account(s) from your bank account via bank transfer. Funding account balances can be tracked through APIs or online through the Nium platform.

Create and load virtual cards

You can load funds onto one or more virtual cards with the Nium API or in the Nium Portal. Any cards you create and load are immediately available for use. We strongly suggest you use the automated clearance feature so that all the cards you create will be automatically deleted on a specific date. By doing so, any extra funds on used or lost cards will be automatically transferred back to your funding account.

Track the history of virtual card activities

Nium’s APIs and web app provide you with a complete history of card activity, including balances and transactions. Automated card activity notifications ensure tight integration with your existing systems.

Track the history of funding account activities

Your operations team can track the history of funding account balances and activities through Nium’s APIs or web app.