How To Protect Your Credit Card Number

credit card number

Reports show that about ten percent of identify fraud crimes stem from stealing information from credit cards, after the credit card number is fed online to pay for a purchase. With such disturbing news in the background, is research being done to find safer alternatives? Though this is the need of the day, the question remains whether this is possible at all. If it is not possible, then what are the viable alternatives?

The answer to this question is yes. Yes, fraud can be prevented and the danger of copying or poaching your credit card number from the internet can be completely eliminated. Meet the virtual credit cards, which have been engineered specifically for online shopping and will provide inherent protection for those who want to shop online. Virtual credit cards, simply put, are temporary cards that expire within a very short time after their use. Therefore, if anyone did capture the number, they would not be able to use it, let alone launch an identity theft attempt, which is emerging as one of the most serious and fastest growing crimes in the USA.

However, with the advantages that these virtual credit cards bring, there are also a couple of disadvantages. Their use is limited in shopping, such as when you book a flight ticket, book a reservation or rent a car. When you book these types of services, you are required to show your credit card at the time of delivery, which on this occasion would not match with the virtual credit card number, leaving you in a lurch. Another minus point to using the virtual card is that you would be unable to pay for a regular subscription with it, as it would not be valid by the time your subscription needs to be paid next month. Therefore, while it is true that it protects you and ensures safe credit card processing, it cannot be used everywhere and for every time you need it.

The time has come to find safer alternatives to using credit cards while shopping online. Many attempts have been made to work out a system of substituting the use of the credit card number with other means, such as with virtual credit cards. However, while this has made credit card processing much safer than before, there are still many issues that need to be tackled before payment with the virtual cards can be applied to all online shopping, bookings and rental activities.