AWS credits and Google Cloud credits with a one-time virtual card: what works

The PayFar one-time card is for the moment you want to make one specific payment abroad and have that be the end of it: no card number left on file, no subscription renewing itself next month, no balance spent beyond what you meant to spend.

This guide covers what the card is, what it is good for, how it works for paying AI agents and buying API credits, and the question we hear most these days: can it get you AWS credits or the Google Cloud free credit? The answers come from AWS's and Google Cloud's own documentation, not guesswork.

What a one-time card is

A one-time card is a virtual international card made for a single payment. You choose the dollar amount you need, pay the issuing fee and that amount together, and a card is made for you with exactly that balance.

Three things set it apart from a regular card:

Single use. The card is for one payment. After that it is neither reused nor recharged.
Your top-up is the balance. The amount you choose when ordering becomes the card's balance, no less and no more. From $10 to $1,000.
A fixed issuing fee. $2, shown in local money at the day's rate before you pay. No monthly fee.

The card is made for you after the payment, and you get a notification the moment it is ready. The card number, expiry and CVV are shown in the app behind your card PIN, with a tap to copy each.

How it differs from the regular PayFar Visa card

	One-time card	Regular Visa card
Issuing fee	$2	Once; shown before you pay
Balance	Exactly what you order, $10 to $1,000	Top up from your wallet whenever you like
Recharge	No	Yes
Monthly fee	None	None
Best for	One specific purchase, trying a service, an agent's budget	Monthly subscriptions and repeat purchases

What you can do with it

One-off purchases. A domain, a course, a game or an app, a theme or a plugin, a payment on a marketplace. You pay and that is that.
Trying a service without fear of auto-renewal. Many services activate a trial with a card and renew it themselves a month later. On a one-time card there is nothing left to renew with.
A budget with a hard ceiling. For a job that should cost exactly $50, make a card with $50 on it. Not a cent more gets spent.
Privacy. The merchant never sees your main card number. If this number leaks somewhere, there is nothing behind it.
Buying API credits. OpenAI and Claude credits are bought in advance, and this card is made for a single purchase. More in the next section.

Paying for AI agents with a one-time card

AI agents spend money in two ways: they buy things themselves, or they run on a model's API and burn credits. The one-time card suits both.

An agent's budget. Make a card with exactly the amount you want the agent to spend and hand it the details. It cannot spend more than the balance, and when the job is done the card is done too. The cap lives in the card itself, not in the agent's settings.
API credits for OpenAI. According to OpenAI's help center, API accounts are prepaid: you buy credits before using them, a minimum of $5 and $10 by default, with the maximum balance set by your account's trust tier. Purchased credits expire one year after purchase and are non-refundable.
API credits for Claude. According to Anthropic's help center, API and Claude Code usage is billed from prepaid credits bought on the Console's Billing page, and only successful requests are charged. Auto-reload is optional.

AWS credits: does a one-time card work?

Someone searching for "AWS credits" usually means one of three things:

The free credit on a new account. According to the AWS Free Tier page, a new account gets $100 in credits immediately and up to $100 more as you explore key services. A Free plan account closes six months after it is opened or when the credits run out, and nothing is charged unless you move to the Paid plan yourself.
AWS Activate startup credits. Something you apply for, not something you buy. See the section below.
Credits you can buy. AWS does not sell credits. Its promotional credits are non-transferable under their terms; any "AWS credits for sale" you come across is of that kind.

Where does a card come in? AWS says most new customers do not need a payment method to sign up, and asks for one only in some cases to verify identity. When it does, it places a temporary $1 authorization that is held for 3 to 5 days and then released; nothing is withdrawn. A card is also needed to move to the Paid plan.

Which cards does AWS accept? According to the AWS Knowledge Center, credit and debit cards from Visa, Mastercard, American Express and a few other networks. Prepaid cards from those networks are accepted too, but AWS itself recommends against prepaid cards: if the balance runs out, recurring payments fail and the account can be suspended. Amazon gift cards, "virtual credit cards (VCC)" and PayPal are on its not-accepted list.

So, plainly:

Goal	One-time card	Our advice
The $100 to $200 free credit on a new account	Usually no card is needed at all. If AWS asks for one to verify identity, a one-time card with the minimum balance is enough; the $1 hold is released	Open the account without a card; give one only if asked
A paid account with a monthly bill	No. A one-time card cannot be recharged, which is exactly what AWS warns about with prepaid cards	A card you can top up every month
Buying AWS credits	No such thing	Activate credits, if you qualify

Google Cloud credits: does a one-time card work?

The Google Cloud free credit is the $300 free trial: a new user gets $300 in credit for 90 days. According to Google Cloud's documentation, activating it requires a card or another payment method that stays valid for the trial; Google places a temporary authorization of $0 to $1 to verify the card, which is not a charge and is released, and nothing is charged unless you upgrade the account to paid yourself.

One sentence in Google's Cloud Billing documentation settles the question, though: prepaid cards are not accepted for payment. An older version of the same page listed virtual credit cards (VCCs) beside them. The PayFar one-time card is a prepaid virtual card.

So the honest answer: do not count on a one-time card for the $300 Google Cloud credit. Google may decline it. If it does, you lose nothing; the card is unused and its balance stays for another purchase.

What about the regular PayFar Visa card? It is a prepaid card too. Reports of prepaid cards on Google Cloud vary, and PayFar does not guarantee it is accepted.
The Gemini API without a card. If all you want is to work with Gemini models, Google says the Google AI Studio starter tier is available without a payment method or a billing account.
Google Cloud credits cannot be bought. Google's startup programme credits are non-transferable and non-redeemable for cash under its terms.

Startup credits: AWS Activate and Google for Startups

You do not buy these credits; you apply, and the companies put them on your account. The figures below are from the programmes' official pages and published guides as of October 29, 2026.

Programme	How much	Main conditions
AWS Activate Founders	Starts at $1,000; selected startups up to $5,000	Self-funded startup, AWS account on the Paid plan
AWS Activate Portfolio	Up to $200,000	Referred by an AWS partner accelerator or investor, pre-Series B, founded in the last 10 years
Google for Startups Start	$2,000 for one year	Not yet funded, founded in the last 24 months, a working first product
Google for Startups Scale	Up to $200,000	A pre-seed or seed round in the last 5 years, or a Series A in the last 12 months
Google for Startups Scale AI	Up to $350,000 over two years	AI is the foundation of the product, not a bolt-on layer

How to order a one-time card

Sign in to the PayFar app, or create an account, and go to Order a card. Choose the one-time card.
Pick the card's balance: $10, $20, $50 or $100, or any amount up to $1,000. The $2 issuing fee and the local-currency total are both on the screen before you pay.
Pay from your wallet balance, through the online gateway, or card to card. Instalments are not offered for this card.
You get a notification the moment the card is ready. On the Card tab, open "One-time cards" and, with your card PIN, see and copy the number, expiry and CVV.

Before you order

Size the balance to the purchase. A one-time card's balance does not go back to your wallet and cannot be topped up.
Add a little over the merchant's price. If the card network takes a fee on the purchase, it comes out of the same balance. A few extra dollars keep the card from being declined over a few cents.
Do not put a monthly subscription on it. Next month there is nothing to take, and the service cuts the subscription off. For subscriptions, get the regular PayFar Visa card.
A decline costs nothing. If a merchant does not accept the card, the balance is still there.
Give the card details only to whoever is going to pay with it. For an agent, make a card sized to that job's budget and nothing more.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get AWS credits with a one-time card?

The free credit on a new AWS account ($100, and up to $100 more) comes with the account itself, and AWS says most new customers do not need a card to sign up. If it asks for one to verify identity, a one-time card is enough for that, and the $1 hold is released. It is not suitable for a paid account with a monthly bill, because it cannot be recharged.

Which card do I need for the $300 Google Cloud credit?

One that Google accepts and that stays valid for the 90-day trial. Google's Cloud Billing documentation says prepaid cards are not accepted, and a one-time card is a prepaid virtual card. Do not count on it; if it is declined, the card's balance stays where it is.

Can AWS or Google Cloud credits be bought?

Not from AWS or Google. Neither sells credits, and their promotional and startup credits are non-transferable under their terms. The free credit on a new account comes with signing up, and startup credits come from applying to AWS Activate or Google for Startups.

Can I recharge a one-time card?

No. The balance is the amount you chose when ordering, and after that it is neither topped up nor returned to your wallet. For repeat payments, get PayFar's regular virtual Visa card, which you top up from your wallet whenever you like.

What happens to my money if a merchant declines the card?

You lose nothing. A decline costs nothing and the balance stays for another purchase. An amount may sit on hold for a day or two until the network releases it.

Is it suitable for a monthly ChatGPT or Claude subscription?

No. A monthly subscription charges the card every month, and a one-time card has no balance left next month. The regular PayFar Visa card is the one for subscriptions. The one-time card is made for a single purchase of API credit.

Can I buy OpenAI or Claude API credits with it?

Yes, that is one of its main uses. OpenAI sells API credit prepaid, from $5, and the credit expires a year after purchase. Anthropic bills API and Claude Code usage from prepaid credit too. Make a card sized to that one purchase.

How long does the card take to be ready?

The card is made for you after the payment, and you get a notification in the app the moment it is ready. The order's status is shown under "One-time cards".

The PayFar one-time card: AWS credits, Google Cloud credits and paying for AI agents