The case for 'virtual' credit cards
By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance
Over the years, it’s likely we’ve all made an Internet purchase we haven’t exactly been giddy to use our Visa for.
And it could have been a number of things that drew our apprehension. Maybe it was the weight loss pills from that shady overseas pharmacist, a curious response to a male enhancement trial offer or that annual membership to your favourite d**-f******-and-c***e-a**-s**ts fetish website.
In any case, there is a safe alternative to protect your credit card info from less-than-reputable online sellers and it turns out not many of us are taking advantage.
George Gombossy of the Chicago Tribune points to one-time use or “virtual” credit cards as an overlooked weapon we can all use to combat any unauthorized charges from popping up on our monthly statements.
The virtual cards, offered by many banks and online services like PayPal, work like a pay-as-you-go-type transaction. Each time you make a purchase, you can generate a new credit card number, load the temporary account up with money and only expose yourself to the risk of spending that pre-determined amount.
Now, you might be saying to yourself, Well, Internet shopping has come along way and the chances of fraud ain’t what they used to be. And you’re right – that doesn’t, however, mean one-time use cards can’t cover your behind, anyway.
Say you’re using your credit card for a trial purchase. Like, say, for a teeth whitener or newspaper/magazine subscription. What do both of those things have in common?
They’re both likely going to ask for your credit card number to “cover only shipping and handling” for your free sample, right? Only, problem is, purchases like that have provisions in them where you need to manually cancel the transaction to stop receiving the service.
This doesn’t sound like much, but companies that work like this enjoy making it as tough as possible to actually find out how to void the deal.
With the virtual credit cards, though, you can set a limit for how much you authorize the seller to draw from your temporary account. So say you pump eight bucks onto your one-time card for a trial magazine subscription – now the retailer is blocked from scamming more cash from your real credit card because you forgot or didn’t know how to cancel your deal to keep getting an unwanted issue of SewPerfect every month for the next six years.
Anyhow, there’s a case to be made for virtual credit use, I think. As Gombossy suggests, check out the services available online to find “which is the most beneficial for you.”
Posted by: The Real Richard | Aug 6, 2021 12:12:19 PM
A much simpler solution is a pre-paid credit card. Then you don't need to setup a whole new number, transfer funds everytime, etc. rRe-paid are what I use for internet shopping as they can not go negative. So even if someone steals the number, they can't charge to it.
I simply just put money on mine when I need to make an internet purchase, and after the purchase is done i'm at or close to $0 again. Pre-paid cards also have the added bonus of imporoving your credit the more you use them, where as virtual cards do not.
Posted by: Home Shopper | Aug 6, 2021 9:57:00 PM
Awesome! Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into these for some of my trial shopping on the internet. Can't wait to see what they have for sale on http://www.chimpout.com/forum
Posted by: Business Printing | Aug 7, 2021 1:16:32 AM
Excellent development in this area. As an online business owner, I often wonder if people are deterred from shopping at my store because they do not want to provide their credit card details. Any solution that will help people to be more confident I think is a great thing.
Posted by: armlecker | Aug 7, 2021 5:57:46 AM
Despite the temptation of buying something using the phone, I never give out my Credit cardnumber . Only use my number to accredited and safe places I do know and trust over the years .No problems yet . toi-toi .Too many scams . One has to be carefull whith whom you are dealing .If I do need services of any kind and want to buy something I really need , there are the yellow pages in the Phone Book . The rest is cash . It works for me and safe . Suggestion:Don`t buy anything from these TV ads who are here and gone tomorrow .They have your creditcard number and who knows where they end up . In my opinion it is some kind of a scam .One has to be cautious these days .But do whatever you want but don`t cry wolf after you find out it was not or it not what you expected or find out your CR card is compromised with something other, sometime after .Buyers be aware !!!!!
Posted by: smithens | Aug 28, 2021 4:06:56 PM
Sorry Richard
Prepaid credit cards do not improve your credit rating, this is because you are not using any credit just your own money.
Posted by: student credit cards | Jan 17, 2022 10:46:14 PM
that's a great online bank service since there have been lots of cases of credit card fraud nowadays. it's important that the credit card holders should know how to use that in purchasing online so they wouldn't be a victim of such credit card crime.