What is a Virtual Credit Card? – Episode #32

A virtual credit card allows you to create substitute credit card numbers on the fly. While many card issuers offer these services, they are hard to find sometimes as many merchants seem to dislike them. Supposedly, lots of card issuers offer this, but we really only found a few. Two programs of note are Bank of America’s ShopSafe card and Discover Card’s Virtual Card.

B of A’s card allows you to set both the expiration date and a limit amount on the card. The Discover card in contrast, does not allow for either of these features. Neither card gets much marketing.

So why does an idea that seems great seem to have so little traction? The press releases on these virtual cards came out two years ago, yet their use has not really spread.

All the merchants who sell subscription products don’t like these virtual cards because they can’t continue the ongoing charges on a month to month, year to year basis. Think about this for a moment, this includes magazine subscriptions, gym memberships, any membership you can think of. These virtual cards would cause countless cancellations for these businesses.

Similar Posts:

• What is a Virtual Credit Card? – Episode #32
• What is a Charge Card? – Episode #41
• Do Colleges Profit from Credit Card Marketing on Campus? – Episode #47
• Credit Score Resolutions 2009 – Episode #100
• Are Credit Card Limits Being Lowered? Will This Impact My Credit Score? – Episode #42
• Should College Students Get Credit Cards on Campus? – Episode #23