What is virtual credit card/debit card?: With the advancement of technology, day to day life is becoming easier and easier having everything just a click away. The digital activity has been growing at a faster rate than ever in the history. However, the threat of misuse is also at an alarming state. In the end of 2016, there has been an incident where many banks such SBI, Yes bank have deactivated lakhs of debit/credit cards of existing customers on the account of important data breach. In the times as vulnerable as this, a virtual credit card is a very good option.
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What is a virtual credit card / debit card?
A virtual card is just an add-on to your primary credit card/bank account. It does not have any physical existence. It is a one-time usable card that comes with a pre-loaded amount and valid only for a specified time period. If not used within the said periods, it will automatically expire. All relevant details of the virtual card viz. the card number, the expiry date and the CVV number are visible online. But the details of primary card are nowhere shared while using the virtual card.
How it is created?
Nowadays, most of the banks are providing the virtual card facility. One can log on to their bank account using the regular user id and password of internet banking and choose the virtual cards section. Then the limit has to be set for amount that can be used through virtual card. Then the bank will send the One time password to your registered bank account,. After authentication a virtual card will be displayed with the details such as card number, expiry details, amount it carries and the CVV. Using these credentials, one can make use of this facility to do any online transactions. Your bank account will be debited only upon the execution of a transaction through virtual card.
Why you should use virtual card?
Virtual cards are most secured:
With the increasing online frauds, everyone is worried about the safety of using their debit or credit cards to make online payments or even to swipe it at the retail stores. So, the security has become a major concern for carrying the digital transactions. With the drive given by demonetization, it has become inevitable to go digital rather mere cash transactions. So, by using virtual card facility one can avoid the credit card frauds. A virtual card expires soon after its CVV is used. If not used it expires after 24 hours. So, usage of the card is very secured and limited.
No need to worry about theft:
In case of physical debit/credit card, one may have to worry about losing the possession by theft or any misplacement. Such question will never arise in the case of virtual cards as they are all together online based mechanism.
One can set the card limit as per his wish:
The virtual card facility gives you the flexibility to define the card limit. One can set any amount as per his wish subject to the maximum cap allowed by your bank. If you want to give your credit card to your children, virtual card is a good idea. You can set certain amount and share the details with them. This helps you keep their number of transactions and the volume of amount spent in control.
No additional charges:
Banks do not charges any extra charges for using the virtual cards.
With the most secure features it offers, virtual cards are very good option to transact online without falling in the trap of online fraudsters. Though they have been in use in the west from quite longer, they are becoming more popular in India nowadays.
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