Virtual/Disposable Credit Cards

KeithOwen

MP2003 said:

I think you're confusing credit cards for prepaid debit cards, which Revolut (and a quick google of the others) are.
Credit cards most often carry a limit and hit your credit rating if you don't pay back statements. These don't do that because there's no credit line.

In terms of a virtual prepaid debit card, they work great, I use revoluts all the time.

The Revolut website describes them as "virtual cards" and doesn't make it clear whether it's a prepaid debit card (where you put funds on first) or a credit card (where you pay later). Anyway, it seems from what you said that it's a debit card, so thanks for the heads up

KeithOwen

born_again said:

KeithOwen said:

It's more about having a disposable/single-use card for those one-off purchases, where I'm buying from a site I've never used before, and probably won't again. I don't intend to replace my standard cards, rather it will be an additional tool alongside them. Most of these companies are directed at online use - you can get a physical card if you want, but the main intent is that you use an app on your phone to generate a single-use card number when you need it.
It seems like not many people here see a need.

How many times have you suffered fraud due to you perceived lack of security?
If you look, most hack are at well know, very high usage sites. 
For everything else there is paypal  

Fraud? None. Disruption? 3 times in the past year. Often sites are hacked, and whilst I personally haven't suffered financially from that, my card issuer has (as a precaution) suspended my card and sent me a new one. That's great in terms of security, but the card suddenly becomes suspended with no notice and it takes a week or so to get a new card. And the new card has a new number, so I have to change all my details at sites I regularly use. And I travel a lot so that can be a complete nightmare if I'm away from home when it happens.

Paypal is great, and I use it a lot. But it doesn't work for some major sites (most notably Amazon, for example)

born_again

KeithOwen said:

born_again said:

KeithOwen said:

It's more about having a disposable/single-use card for those one-off purchases, where I'm buying from a site I've never used before, and probably won't again. I don't intend to replace my standard cards, rather it will be an additional tool alongside them. Most of these companies are directed at online use - you can get a physical card if you want, but the main intent is that you use an app on your phone to generate a single-use card number when you need it.
It seems like not many people here see a need.

How many times have you suffered fraud due to you perceived lack of security?
If you look, most hack are at well know, very high usage sites. 
For everything else there is paypal  

Fraud? None. Disruption? 3 times in the past year. Often sites are hacked, and whilst I personally haven't suffered financially from that, my card issuer has (as a precaution) suspended my card and sent me a new one. That's great in terms of security, but the card suddenly becomes suspended with no notice and it takes a week or so to get a new card. And the new card has a new number, so I have to change all my details at sites I regularly use. And I travel a lot so that can be a complete nightmare if I'm away from home when it happens.

Paypal is great, and I use it a lot. But it doesn't work for some major sites (most notably Amazon, for example)

While I get you points.
How will you cope while away from home? How many would you take?
No one should travel with only one card with them. As what happens if it's lost or stolen.

Also what do you do if you want a refund? It goes to the card used. You then face the issue of getting it back. As per another thread on this site, where they can not remember the card number used to be able to reclaim the refund.

jonesMUFCforever

Nebulous2 said:

I’ve always regarded additional complexity in cards as unnecessary. Lots of these ideas have come and gone over the years, which shows it is very hard to make them work. There are costs to be met in these arrangements that have to be paid from somewhere.

My credit card still pays me 0.5% for every purchase I make. That keeps me seeing it as my ‘go to’ card.

Can I award this post to be the most sensible post of the week.
You get all the security you need from a standard credit card - if you think a website is dodgy don't use it - simples!

KeithOwen

born_again said:

KeithOwen said:

born_again said:

KeithOwen said:

It's more about having a disposable/single-use card for those one-off purchases, where I'm buying from a site I've never used before, and probably won't again. I don't intend to replace my standard cards, rather it will be an additional tool alongside them. Most of these companies are directed at online use - you can get a physical card if you want, but the main intent is that you use an app on your phone to generate a single-use card number when you need it.
It seems like not many people here see a need.

How many times have you suffered fraud due to you perceived lack of security?
If you look, most hack are at well know, very high usage sites. 
For everything else there is paypal  

Fraud? None. Disruption? 3 times in the past year. Often sites are hacked, and whilst I personally haven't suffered financially from that, my card issuer has (as a precaution) suspended my card and sent me a new one. That's great in terms of security, but the card suddenly becomes suspended with no notice and it takes a week or so to get a new card. And the new card has a new number, so I have to change all my details at sites I regularly use. And I travel a lot so that can be a complete nightmare if I'm away from home when it happens.

Paypal is great, and I use it a lot. But it doesn't work for some major sites (most notably Amazon, for example)

While I get you points.
How will you cope while away from home? How many would you take?
No one should travel with only one card with them. As what happens if it's lost or stolen.

Also what do you do if you want a refund? It goes to the card used. You then face the issue of getting it back. As per another thread on this site, where they can not remember the card number used to be able to reclaim the refund.

Well, the point is I don't have to "take any". They are not physical cards, they are virtual cards generated by an app on your phone. I do travel with other physical cards, but I just wanted to explore alternatives [edited for clarity]

As for the refund, this was asked previously, and phillw responded: "The issuer should be able to track it back to your account as they shouldn't be giving out the same number and expiry date to someone else. Google pay works in a similar way, they assign you a virtual number."

KeithOwen

jonesMUFCforever said:

Nebulous2 said:

I’ve always regarded additional complexity in cards as unnecessary. Lots of these ideas have come and gone over the years, which shows it is very hard to make them work. There are costs to be met in these arrangements that have to be paid from somewhere.

My credit card still pays me 0.5% for every purchase I make. That keeps me seeing it as my ‘go to’ card.

Can I award this post to be the most sensible post of the week.
You get all the security you need from a standard credit card - if you think a website is dodgy don't use it - simples!

Sorry, but I think that's a bit naive. You're implying that only "dodgy" websites get hacked? That's obviously not true - many well known and trustworthy brands have had their websites hacked, and credit card details stolen. 
And if you truly did get "all the security you need from a standard credit card" why would I need to avoid any sites, dodgy or otherwise?
The point is, that I have been inconvenienced several times by legitimate websites being hacked, and whilst I have not yet lost out financially, it has caused me problems. I was simply exploring alternative ways to add a bit of additional protection.