Enroll in American Express® Virtual Card Issuing in Emburse Spend

Your organization can enroll in the American Express® Virtual Card Program to issue and manage virtual cards in Emburse Spend. Virtual cards help enforce spending policies, provide real-time visibility, and reduce manual reconciliation.

Virtual cards issued from newly enrolled programs support adding cards to mobile wallets.

Programs connected before April 13, 2026, require re-enrollment to enable this functionality. See Mobile Wallet Eligibility and Re-Enrollment for more details.

Prerequisites

• You are the cardholder of the parent card you want to enroll.
• You are an Emburse Spend administrator.
• You have access to your American Express Manage Your Card Account (MYCA) credentials.

American Express has a 40-character limit for company names in its API. If your company name exceeds this limit, enrollment will fail.

To resolve this issue:

1. Go to Company Settings.
2. Shorten your company name to fewer than 40 characters.
3. Select Save.
4. Return to Card Programs and continue enrollment.

Step 1: Identify the Funding Source Card

To enable Virtual Card issuing, select a physical American Express Card to use as the parent card.

A parent Card is the primary card used as the funding source for virtual cards. Supplemental cards are additional cards linked to another account.

Eligible Card Types

• American Express Corporate and Business Cards, including Corporate Purchasing Cards
• Basic Account Cards

Not Supported

• Business Travel Accounts
• Supplemental Cards (including Small Business Employee or Additional Cards)

Once a parent Card is enrolled, you can issue virtual cards to employees as needed.

Transactions are assigned to the Virtual Cardholder and flow into your accounting system.

Best Practices

• Use a parent Card dedicated to virtual cards to simplify reconciliation.
• Select a Card not tied to an individual who may leave your organization.

Step 2: Verify Access to the Card Account

Confirm that you have access to your American Express Manage Your Card Account (MYCA).

This is the account used for Cards and Banking features. It may differ from your American Express @ Work login, which is not supported for enrollment.

You must be able to:

• Sign in with MYCA credentials.
• Complete any required verification steps.

Step 3: Enroll the Parent Card

1. In Emburse Spend, select Settings.
2. Select Card Programs.

3. Select Add Card Program.

   

4. In the pop-up window, select American Express.

   

5. Then select Activate Virtual Cards Issuing.

   

6. Accept the terms and conditions.

   

Enter the required details:

• Card Description: Name on the parent card
• Billing Address: Valid U.S. address (PO Boxes and Commercial Mail Receiving Agency addresses are not allowed by American Express)
• Preferred Account Name: Optional internal name

7. Select Add Parent Card.

   

Step 4: Connect to American Express®

After you complete the Emburse registration, a new browser tab or pop-up opens to continue enrollment with American Express. Make sure your browser allows pop-ups for this site.

1. Sign in using your American Express MYCA credentials. Use the credentials for the Cards and Banking account. These may differ from your American Express @ Work login, which is not supported for Virtual Card enrollment.

   

If you do not have credentials:

• Select Forgot User ID or Password.
• Or create an account through the American Express website.

2. Select the eligible small business or corporate card account to connect with Emburse Spend.

   

3. Accept the terms and complete enrollment.

   

After completing enrollment, return to Emburse Spend. The Card program displays, and you can begin issuing virtual cards.

Mobile Wallet Eligibility and Re-Enrollment

Virtual cards can be added to mobile wallets only if the program was connected after April 13, 2026. If your program was connected before April 13, 2026, you must re-enroll to use mobile wallets.

Eligibility

• Connected after April 13, 2026: Supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay
• Connected before April 13, 2026: Does not support mobile wallets

Re-Enroll a Card Program for Mobile Wallet Functionality

If your organization connected its American Express Virtual Card Program before April 13, 2026, and requires mobile wallet functionality, you must re-enroll the program.

Re-enrollment:

• Creates a new Virtual Card program
• Does not replace the original program
• Does not affect approval workflows
• Does not interrupt existing virtual cards

Impact to Existing Virtual Cards

Re-enrollment does not affect:

• Existing virtual cards
• Cardholders
• Transactions
• Accounting integrations
• Reporting or reconciliation

Existing cards remain active and usable.

New cards from the re-enrolled program support mobile wallets.

Required Administrator Action

1. Repeat the enrollment process following Steps 3 and 4, above.
2. Rename the original card program and give the new card program a distinct name to differentiate the two programs.

Rename a Card Program

1. Go to Company Settings > Card Programs.
2. Select More Actions next to the original program.

3. Select Rename.

   

4. Enter a name that clearly identifies the program status.

5. Select Save.

   

See Issue and Manage American Express Virtual Cards for more information.