How to Activate a Payment Card? First Payment with a New Card Online

For years, banks required the first transaction with a new payment card to be made in a physical store and confirmed with a PIN. Often, the PIN had to be set up beforehand by calling the bank's helpline. Modern electronic banking has simplified this process.

In this article, you will learn how to activate a card online and what to do if you only use a virtual card.

Table of Contents:

1. New payment card for your account. Do you have to wait for it?
2. Virtual card — when you need a card "right now"
3. How to activate a physical payment card?
4. How to make the first online purchase with a new card?
5. FAQ: New payment card — what you need to know
6. What happens if you don't activate your payment card?
7. How to check if a payment card is active?
8. Can the first payment with a new card be contactless?
9. First card payment — summary

Key information in a nutshell:

• The method of activating a new payment card depends on the specific bank's requirements.
• The waiting time for a new payment card delivered to your correspondence address is from a few days to a month.
• If time is of the essence, you can get a virtual card.
• You don't always have to make the first payment with a new card in a physical store — this is especially true for virtual cards.
• The bank can charge fees even for an inactive card.

New payment card for your account. Do you have to wait for it?

You have a new bank account, your personal details have changed, your previous card has expired, or it has been lost or stolen — these are the most common reasons why you need a new payment card. Without it, using the money accumulated in your bank account can be difficult: you may not be able to withdraw money from an ATM or you may lose the ability to pay in stores that, for example, do not support the BLIK system. The lack of a card also usually prevents you from using cash deposit machines.

So you go to a bank branch or log in to the online service, submit an application for a new card, and... you wait. Most often, the delivery of a new card to the correspondence address you provided takes a few days. However, some institutions specify that this process can take up to a month.

Virtual card — when you need a card "right now"

An alternative is to set up a virtual card — available immediately in the mobile application or online banking. After creating a virtual card, you immediately receive its number, expiration date, and CVC/CVV code. Thanks to this, you can immediately pay with it online or add it to a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay. You can use such a card for both online shopping and in physical stores.

At the end of March 2025, 888.2 thousand virtual cards were issued on the Polish market (1.9% of the total number of payment cards — debit, credit, etc. — which was 46.5 million at the time).

How to activate a physical payment card?

A physical payment card ordered to a correspondence address — whether it is put in a mailbox or delivered by a courier to your hands — will arrive inactive. This means that until you complete the activation process, you cannot use it to pay or withdraw cash. This is a form of security in case the card falls into the wrong hands.

When you receive the card, make sure that the package is intact. Then, the card activation process usually looks like this:

1. if you have access to electronic banking, log in to the bank's transaction system or application and find the "Cards" / "Card Management" / etc. section or tab;
2. next to the selected card, you will most likely find an "Activate" button — click it;
3. assign a PIN to the card — sometimes for this purpose, you have to contact the bank's helpline;
4. to complete the activation, banks may require, for example, a cash withdrawal from an ATM or entering the PIN multiple times during the finalization of a non-cash transaction in a store. The exact instructions will be described in the letter you receive with the card. The full activation of the card may proceed differently in various institutions.

How to make the first online purchase with a new card?

It happens that banks allow the use of new cards just a dozen minutes after concluding the agreement, even before the card is sent to you. How is this possible? The virtual card will have the same number as the physical card, and its details will be visible in the mobile application or online banking. Such a card usually needs to be activated in the transaction service or in the bank's application, but it does not require "completing" the activation by making a transaction at a physical point of sale.

The first payment with a new card for online shopping usually proceeds standardly:

1. after adding products to the cart and proceeding to finalize the transaction, you select "card payment";
2. in the payment form, you provide the cardholder's first and last name (the one printed on the card), the card number, its expiration date, and the CVC/CVV number;
3. you confirm the transaction in the banking application.

FAQ: New payment card — what you need to know

What happens if you don't activate your payment card?

In the case of physical payment cards, banks usually do not set a deadline for activating such a card. However, if you want to use it, you must do so before its expiration date. It is important, however, to read the terms and conditions of the payment card carefully — banks can charge fees even for inactive cards and even those that have been issued to an account but, for example, have not reached the owner.

How to check if a payment card is active?

You can check the status of your card in the mobile application or the bank's online service — next to the given card, there should be information on whether it is active. Some banks also send an SMS or push notification after the activation process is completed. You can also contact the bank's helpline.

Can the first payment with a new card be contactless?

This depends on the bank's policy. Most institutions require a transaction confirmed with a PIN code. However, if the bank allows online card activation and adding it to a digital wallet even before the first use, there are usually no obstacles to the first payment being contactless — whether with a physical card, phone, or watch that supports such payments.

First card payment — summary

The activation of a new payment card — whether a debit or credit card — usually proceeds similarly, although the details may differ between various banks that issue the card. In the case of a physical card, it is often required to log in to online banking or a mobile application, set a PIN, and — in some institutions — make the first transaction at a terminal with a PIN code.

In the case of virtual cards, the formalities are usually simplified, and it is enough to activate the card through online banking.