Paying online but keeping my bank/card details safe

sarahemmm

I mostly use Paypal for online purchases, as it does not give the vendor access to my card or account details. However I recently wanted to make a payment to a business that does not accept Paypal, and I didn't really want to give them my card details. It seems that a prepaid card would be the solution, but which to go for? The guide suggests a Tesco one, but before I apply, I thought I would ask here if anyone has experience in this area...

[Deleted User]

It would be preferable to use a credit card as any money wrongly taken would not be yours, so you wouldn't lose out.

penners324

Use Chase as they have virtual card numbers if you're that worried.

sarahemmm

Thanks, penners - never heard of virtual card numbers, so will check it out.

[Deleted User]

Many firms use payment processors like Shopify, World Pay, Paypal etc. Is there any reason you want to not give your payment card details given that using paypal payments means no S75 cover etc? Firms with a secure payment gateway don't have access to your card details and don't store them unless you want to and even then, do not see your actual details

born_again

sarahemmm said:

I mostly use Paypal for online purchases, as it does not give the vendor access to my card or account details. However I recently wanted to make a payment to a business that does not accept Paypal, and I didn't really want to give them my card details. It seems that a prepaid card would be the solution, but which to go for? The guide suggests a Tesco one, but before I apply, I thought I would ask here if anyone has experience in this area...

While not a answer to your question.
You are aware every time you use your card at any retailer. The retailers copy of the till roll has you full card number on it.

sarahemmm

Thanks, farfetch - I'm well aware. I am not concerned about losing cover, as the amounts are not large, but there are some sites where I have perhaps a not good feeling about security, so don't want them to have a record of my card and personal details together. At the site which raised my concerns, they don't offer payments via Paypal (and I have heard horror stories of World Pay and would not use them). Indeed, it was  the fact that they don't offer such options that really made me feel somewhat wary.

eskbanker

born_again said:

While not a answer to your question.
You are aware every time you use your card at any retailer. The retailers copy of the till roll has you full card number on it.

That's not really true of every retailer though is it, in this day and age - small retailers using PDQ style terminals may still retain full PANs visible to staff, but larger retailers with integrated POS systems would be expected only to have card details stashed away in a highly restricted PCI-DSS compliant software environment rather than literally on a physical 'till roll'....

Olinda99

paradoxically you would be safer paying always by using your credit card details than using paypal

born_again

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

While not a answer to your question.
You are aware every time you use your card at any retailer. The retailers copy of the till roll has you full card number on it.

That's not really true of every retailer though is it, in this day and age - small retailers using PDQ style terminals may still retain full PANs visible to staff, but larger retailers with integrated POS systems would be expected only to have card details stashed away in a highly restricted PCI-DSS compliant software environment rather than literally on a physical 'till roll'....

Which are just the place where compromises happen as screening staff is not top of their priorities. Which is why at one point petrol stations were a major point of compromise for fraud on card details.

eskbanker

born_again said:

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

While not a answer to your question.
You are aware every time you use your card at any retailer. The retailers copy of the till roll has you full card number on it.

That's not really true of every retailer though is it, in this day and age - small retailers using PDQ style terminals may still retain full PANs visible to staff, but larger retailers with integrated POS systems would be expected only to have card details stashed away in a highly restricted PCI-DSS compliant software environment rather than literally on a physical 'till roll'....

Which are just the place where compromises happen as screening staff is not top of their priorities. Which is why at one point petrol stations were a major point of compromise for fraud on card details.

I think you may have missed my point - I agree that till rolls are an obvious weak link in security for those retailers that use them, but was challenging your assertion that this is every retailer, when it's only some....