Disposable Credit Card

[matthewdownloads]

I'm buying something from a foreign country & I'd rather pay by paypal or something safe like that but they only accept debit/credit card. I'm fairly sure the website is safe but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I want a card which I can use as a one-off, ie a disposable card. I saw the website 3V has something like this but I can't register since the page won't load. Also I presume if my purchase was about £15 and I put £20 on the voucher then I lose £5.

The other thing I see is 'prepaid cards', however these seem to be permanent cards? The whole point of this is I don't want to see my bank account emptied if the worst possible scenario happened. If I got a prepaid card for this then does that affect my 'score' or anything like that? One site I looked at was talking about building a credit rating? I already have a debit card so for all UK purchases I just use that. What do I need to do/get?

Edit: And another thing is prepaid visa/mastercard gift cards like the mastercard freedom card...? Is this what I need?

Edit 2: Or western union money transfer. I know they could take the money and run but they don't get my debit card details though right?

[Toe-Jam]

if your an o2 customer, you can get a prepaid visa card from their website, its free to load and free to use. It will not affect your "score" its not a form of credit. And you should ALWAYS avoid western union unless your sending to family or friends.

[archer7]

Try a Neteller account. You can get a "virtual prepaid mastercard" instantly that only works for a single transaction, and it's free to load with a debit card.

http://public.neteller.com/content/en/cards_index.htm

Edit: Btw, you can also load the exact amount, so there's no money left over in the account.

[sharpy2010]

There is a MASSIVE market for this, I'm trying it now. I'll let you know in a few moments if it works!

[sharpy2010]

Well, I signed up, and my account has been instantly disabled. No warning, no reasons why, nothing. Not a great start.

Im guessing that its to do with having to provide documents before I can use the account, however, if they've started like this, what else might they do.

Think I'll use Moneybookers instead.

[archer7]

Hmm. That's strange. You will need to provide identification before you use the Virtual Mastercard, but I don't remember it being that hard for me, I don't think I sent off anything.

[bobweston]

There's an article here about Disposable credit cards, and some suggestions why they've not caught on: http://money.msn.com/credit-cards/is...er-weston.aspx

It looks like O2 have stopped doing theirs:
http://money.o2.co.uk/cashmanager.html

[Saints2011]

Originally Posted by Toe-Jam

if your an o2 customer, you can get a prepaid visa card from their website, its free to load and free to use. It will not affect your "score" its not a form of credit. And you should ALWAYS avoid western union unless your sending to family or friends.

Not offered anymore

[bobweston]

Thomas Cook offer these Prepaid currency cards from Mastercard http://www.cashpassport.com

You appear to be able to use these online too.

[andyt8]

Originally Posted by bobweston

There's an article here about Disposable credit cards, and some suggestions why they've not caught on: http://money.msn.com/credit-cards/is...er-weston.aspx

It looks like O2 have stopped doing theirs:
http://money.o2.co.uk/cashmanager.html

Yes but Orange Cash has now been launched by the Orange mobile phone group. O2 said when the pulled theirs they would be re-launching something better in 2012.. I have an Orange Cash pre-paid card and it works fine.

[glawster]

Which country are you buying from? EU/US shouldn't be a problem, Nigeria or China be very careful. Be aware tha Paypal is NOT a safe payment method and there is nothing to stop the buyer taking the money and running. If a foreign seller asks for Western Union odds are it's a scam and you will never see the goods or your money again. WU is for sending money to friends/family, not business transactions. Just don't use it for this type of purchase (google i

Use a credit card (if paying direct, NOT through a third party like Paypal) and if the goods don't arrive and the transaction is worth £100 or more then the credit card company is jointly liable if the goods don't arrive. Also you are protected from unauthorized transactions on your credit card.

It sounds like you don't trust the company too much so another option is escrow (try escrow.com), your money is held by a third party and your release it when the goods arrive undamaged. There is a fee for this service though.

Finally be aware that customs can sting you for any of VAT, excise duty and customs duty depending on what you are buying if the goods come from outside the EU. The current threshold is £15 for most goods and £0 for others. HMRC have details on there website.

[bobweston]

Originally Posted by glawster

Be aware tha Paypal is NOT a safe payment method and there is nothing to stop the buyer taking the money and running.

Hi there,

Why do you say Paypal is not a safe payment method?

I don't use PP myself, but there is coverage on the web that people's accounts have been 'hacked'. I'm curious why Paypal would be considered more prone to hacking or 'less secure'.
My theory is if people have rubbish passwords (Paypal and/or their main e-mail account) and/or had no/out-of-date security this could be a reason why they had their Paypal accounts hacked, or money taken... either by someone guessing, knowing the log-in details, or if they were exposed to a keylogger.

A friend of mine said a number of her colleagues had their PP accounts hacked - but it transpired they were on the same network with the same password to logon, so in this case their company's insecure network was the reason these accounts were compromised in this case.

Maybe I've misinterpreted what you mean by 'safe' here.