Since the beginning of time, mankind has invented and developed new methods of conducting business and commerce. Credit cards are not a new concept. In the mid-1940s, American Airlines and the Air Transport Association introduced the first credit cards to promote air travel. Subsequently, banks and financial service providers offered the service to their customers. The current era of computing power and the diversity of the Internet have further revolutionized the way we conduct our daily financial transactions. Whether it’s shopping online, transferring funds, booking a vacation abroad, or purchasing other services online, credit cards make it possible from the comfort of your home. But are Internet transactions secure enough? Yes, with the introduction of virtual credit cards now they are!

Internet market and pirates

The age of the Internet has brought immense convenience and ease to customers in choosing the right products. Search the web for what you need and in what price range, all the options available to you will be there. Choose what suits you best and pay with your credit card in just a few keystrokes. As with all good things that have a downside, the Internet marketplace also experienced a failure. Hackers on the web emerged as a threat to online transactions that would otherwise be considered safe. The introduction of virtual credit cards has helped to overcome this problem.

Security is possible

Modern encryption techniques and online security protocols / parameters such as SSL, SMPX, etc. are now in place to ensure maximum security for your financial transactions. As an added measure of security, the concept of virtual credit cards, VCCs, has been around for a long time. VCCs are cards that are used specifically on the Internet and are considered a secure mode of online transactions. With the SET protocol (secure electronic transactions) the security and confidentiality of transactions is possible. The information security protocol is followed from the merchant to the customer and from the customer to the bank, which allows access only to the relevant information for each of the two parties. These are simply cards linked to the user’s bank credit card or a physical bank account with an alias to the original. All VCC service providers have a payment authorization mechanism. It can be an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) call on your personal cell phone asking you to confirm if you are the one doing the transaction or, in certain cases, it can be an SMS / email message delivered to your validated number. Or email. Today, some banks offer temporary or time-limited VCC accounts. The great thing about VCCs is that you can set your own maximum credit limit, expiration date, and specific online locations to shop from. That is, there is no possibility of fraud or misuse of the card.

Virtual credit cards: a great service

One of those virtual credit card services is Paypal. Offering services that are based exclusively on digital systems to carry out Paypal transactions is one of the first to start among all virtual credit card payment providers of this type. It has around 81 million trading accounts spread across 190 markets around the world. An innovative post-billing service enables customers to be billed for their electronic invoices later via a bank account or credit card. They offer services associated with the main online stores. Whether you buy accessories on amazon.com, pay for internet advertising, or a domain name from a registry like godaddy.com, Paypal is always there. Another of the best VCC providers is Entropay. After you have loaded funds to your Entropay VCC from a regular bank account, you are freed to shop online once you have verified your address and other account details. A nominal transaction fee is charged when the card is used. A good alternative to Paypal, Netletter VCC offers a prepaid master card and registration is free. Use costs per transaction. For people in the US, Netspend offers quality VCC services in association with Visa and Master cards. American Express, a big name in the US banking industry, offers VCC services along with master cards and visa for safe and hassle-free online spending. And there are several other similar services on the market.

Go get it!

A virtual credit card is essential. With technology rapidly advancing and people getting used to adapting easily to newer and easier ways of life, VCC is a boon to both the customer and the retailer. Long ago, people who feared identity theft stayed away from making purchases or monetary transactions over the web. In this wonderful era of virtual credit cards, if you don’t have one, you’re missing out on a lot.