Internet Shopping With a Virtual Credit Card

By Rich Holth

Shopping online is a great way to save money, and it's way more convenient than shopping in person. You can get some wonderful bargains doing your shopping online, and there's no traffic to fight, no parking spaces to search for and no crowds to fend off at the shopping mall. But some people worry about the security of online shopping. After all, you need to type in your credit card number when you make an online purchase, and having to do that makes some people very nervous.

If this is one of your concerns than there is a solution. A safer way to shop online is to use a virtual credit card instead. This virtual card replaces your usual credit card. Then there is no need to enter or give a credit card number to anyone. This is safe, secure and easy to do. Citi, Discover, and MBNA are several banks that offer virtual credit in place of their usual credit card numbers. A popular online payment service is PayPal. This service offers the same virtual credit card service.

It's easy to start using a virtual credit card number, and it can make all the difference in your comfort level and security. Virtual credit cards are actually credit card numbers that are randomly generated by computer. They're sometimes called substitute credit cards, and they're designed to provide peace of mind for people who worry about credit card fraud or identity theft. There's no extra charge to use a virtual credit card, and they protect your real credit card number from misuse by others.

The company or banks, who offers these cards, use similar procedures. But the basic principal behind them is the same. An individual would apply for a virtual credit card by going to the website of the bank or company where they have the their usual credit card. Often the user would download software from that site. This software is what is used to generate the random numbers of the substitute credit card. When a person is ready to shop online, they only need to enter the virtual credit card number which is generated. They would not enter their real credit card number. The real credit card number is known only by the user or their bank or credit card company. Now there is no possibility of fraud or misuse.

A virtual credit card can also be used to buy things over the telephone or through the mail. So other than in-person purchases that require an actual plastic credit card, a virtual credit card can be used for just about any type of shopping, not just online.

If you're a credit card user that's concerned about credit card fraud or identity theft, consider signing up for a virtual credit card. It's easy, free, and accepted as payment when you're shopping on the internet, on the telephone or through the mail. Taking that step to sign up to use substitute credit card numbers is a very small price to pay for such a large amount of protection and security. - 29971

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