Credit Card Applications with One-time Use Numbers - Fool the Thieves

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Customers can now enjoy credit information protection and thus soothe themselves with the so-called virtual credit cards. What do we mean? Well, of course, you cannot call the actual credit card resting in your pocket virtual, but you can apply this name to its number.

Virtual, or one-time use credit card numbers, are also called controlled payment numbers and are designed to protect you from the never ending attacks of hackers hunting for your financial and personal information.

We have a story from one of our readers who told us how his one time use credit card number gave him confidence and encouraged him to go online for purchases.

Daniel signed up for the program available with Discover company and downloaded their software on to his home computer. How did the software protect him from a possible breach? Entering his credit card information, Daniel generated a new number each time he wanted to buy online.

In fact, shopping online with this virtual one-time use credit card number, you do not have to expose your actual credit card number to fraudsters and experience ID theft.

Daniel acknowledged that the use of the virtual numbers, new for every other transaction online, gave him confidence in his security and made him a frequent online shopper. He has been using this protection software for a couple of months now and is totally satisfied with it. Though Daniel does not apply a virtual credit card number with big and trustworthy companies, he is sure that it is still a great option when it comes to dealing with merchants he doesn't feel quite comfortable with.

So, what about fraudsters? How does the software keep them away from your credit card and personal information? First, the number has a one-time use and an imminent expiration date. Second, the merchant cannot see the virtual number and cannot keep it in his database as it will expire soon all the same.

Should hackers still get access to your one-time use number, it will be useless to them as it is temporary and not real actually.

Despite all the advantages of virtual one-time use numbers, they are only available with Citibank, Discover and MBNA as yet. Maybe, it is due to the fact that many customers feel too easy if not indifferent about their plastic being stolen because they are liable for only $50 if any.

However, customers should never forget that stealing your credit card number, fraudsters may gain access to the rest of your personal information that matches up with the number. And as you know ID theft may bring lots of problems and even damages into your everyday life.

One-time use credit card numbers seem to be a smart way to stay protected both for customers and credit companies.

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