People all over the world use the internet to pay their bills, buy goods and services, and transfer money. This has many benefits, but one major disadvantage is security: millions of people fall victim to fraud and identity theft each year.
Staying safe online necessitates constant vigilance, secure software, and a variety of skills required to navigate the World Wide Web. However, when it comes to online payments, virtual credit cards can add an extra layer of security.
Virtual credit cards are primarily short-term digital cards intended for one-day or even one-time use. A virtual card is linked to a physical credit card or bank account.
It generates a card number, expiration date, and security code at random. As a result, your true information is not visible to or shared with anyone. Consider the following scenario to better understand how virtual credit cards work. You've logged into your preferred e-commerce platform, added various items to your cart, entered your information, and are about to pay. Instead of entering your credit card number, you create a new virtual credit card and enter all of the required information from it.
You learn several weeks later that this e-commerce platform was compromised by an unknown threat actor. The cybercriminal gained access to the company's systems, injected malicious code into the website, and stole user data, including credit card numbers. Your information and bank account, however, are safe because you used a virtual credit card rather than a real, physical card.
Because the virtual credit card you used has already expired, you can proceed without concern about the breach. This is essentially the purpose of virtual credit cards. They conceal your true identity from threat actors and safeguard you from cybercrime. They obviously provide more privacy than physical credit cards, which is an added bonus.
Virtual credit cards are clearly something that everyone who values their security (and their hard-earned money) should consider. So, how does one go about obtaining one? The answer may be disappointing, but your best option is to contact your bank and inquire about virtual credit cards. Many people nowadays do.
However, if your bank or card issuer is incapable to provide you with a virtual credit card for whatever reason, there is another service called Privacy that you could utilize. It is a simple and easy-to-understand online platform for creating virtual credit cards. Essentially, all you need to do is add a funding source, create a card, and you're ready to go.
Of course, privacy provides much more. Setting spending limits, creating an online wallet with multiple cards, setting recurring payments (great for subscription services), tracking your spending, and more are all possible with the platform. Privacy also has a mobile app and a chrome extension, enabling you to access the service from almost any device.
More notably, privacy is extremely safe. It is PCI-DSS compliant, which means it is held to the same standards as US banks. Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) with AES-256 encryption protects all data center communications, while Transport Layer Security protects web traffic (TLS). Customers' passwords are hashed, and their data is stored on servers spread across the globe.
Privacy has three different plans: personal, professional, and team. Personal is free, but you can only create 12 virtual credit cards each month. You can make up to 36 cards with Pro and up to 60 with Teams. These two plans charge $10 and $25 per month, respectively.
However, there is one major drawback to Privacy: it is only available to US citizens and legal residents, as well as residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. According to the company's official website, it is striving to make its services available globally, so keep an ear to the ground if you are not based in the US but require a virtual credit card.
The fact that virtual credit cards cannot be used in person is an evident disadvantage. You can, however, add some virtual credit cards to a safe and dependable mobile wallet and pay that way whenever possible.
The main disadvantage of using virtual credit cards over physical ones is that they are only destined for one-time or one-day use. Furthermore, even if a virtual card is not intended for temporary use, you would need to generate new ones on a regular basis to ensure maximum security. The issue is that if you pay for something online with your virtual credit card and then demand a refund because the goods do not arrive or receive the product damaged, you will have no way of getting your money back if the card number has already expired.
Another potential disadvantage is that you sometimes need to utilize the same card to pay for a service. For example, if you make a hotel reservation online using your virtual credit card but do not pay the full amount in advance, the hotel may ask you to pay for your room with the same card you used to book it—which you will be unable to do if your virtual credit card has already expired.
Virtual credit cards are secure, simple to use, free (or, at the very least, inexpensive), and will improve your security and privacy. Most importantly, they will safeguard you against fraud, theft, and other forms of cybercrime.
There is always the potential of having problems getting a refund or something similar, but that is probably a reasonable compromise for most people. And, until you get a virtual credit card, make sure you are familiar with the most common online shopping security threats and how to avoid them.