Use a temporary account number to secure your online purchase.

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by cosmictraveler, Nov 3, 2007.

  1. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    Use a temporary account number to secure your on line purchase. I just

    noticed this new type of credit card account that I can set up. It allows me

    to put in whatever amount I'm going to need in order to purchase something

    on line or any other questionable business. I think it's a good idea so that if

    anyone tries to reuse that credit card number they can't! Do you think this

    is a good way to prevent someone from ripping your credit card number off

    and using it without your consent?
     
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  3. Varda The Bug Lady Valued Senior Member

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    6,184
    sounds like a pain from a developer's standpoint

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    but it's a good business idea i suppose
     
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  5. Non-Logical-Idea-Guy Fat people can't smile. Registered Senior Member

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    whats the age limit on that thing?
     
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  7. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
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    It is already available through my own credit card company. I just log into it

    and it will give me the temporary credit card number and whatever amount I

    need to use for the transaction I'm doing now. It has a set time limit also

    that's up to two months before it expires so that when you make your

    purchase it gives the business a chance to put in their debit to your credit

    card company. You must have a credit card already and you can't exceed

    your limit.
     
  8. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

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    8,989
    To me this sounds a lot like a Visa gift card, only you get no plastic.
     
  9. vslayer Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,969
    why not just get a debit card, seems a lot easier. before you buy anything just go onto your internet banking and swap x euros into your card account.
     
  10. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264

    Because I want to put it onto an existing credit card account to make

    monthly payments to pay it off.
     
  11. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,989
    Why not buy things you want or need only when you have the money to do so? Why pay 12% interest when you can pay 0% interest? Because you want it now?

    I have one credit card... and I only use it to collect points for Amazon. I pay it off in full during the grace period to avoid any fees and I'll only use it when I have the money at the time (that is, I could just as easily use my debit card at the same time).
     
  12. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,083
    I have a Visa internet card, it's only usable for purchases on the internet and on the outside it looks like a regular Visa card.
    Before any purchase I just put the particular ammount on my Visa internet account through my internet bank and do the purchase.
    Even if somebody got my account details, there is any ammount of money on the account just before I make a purchase, so it's pretty safe.
    Have been using this method for years.
     
  13. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    Because I want to protect my purchase in case I have any problems. If I

    use a debit card and I have any problems with my purchase I'm responsible

    to get the problem fixed BUT if i went with this type of purchase then the

    credit card company backs me up and won't pay the charge until the

    problems are fixed. I really don't want to pay the thing over time but want

    to protect my credit card number and by getting this temporary card I can

    rest assured I won't lose the original to people who want to use it for their

    own devious purposes. Again I will pay off the balance at the end of the

    month in full but now I don't have to worry about theft of my card number.
     
  14. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,989
    Not true.

    http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/personal_finance/debit.html

    So now that we have that cleared up, why make monthly payments? All you are doing is wasting money.
     
  15. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    OK, I'm convinced. I'll return to the natural ways of credit card use. I just

    thought this might be a good idea fot the companies to not have as many

    credit card rip offs as they do. It seems it protects them more than me

    doesn't it?
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2007
  16. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,989
    There's really only 3 ways you can get your credit card information stolen:

    1) Let the company you are dealing with store your credit card information
    2) Give your CC info over an insecure line
    3) Someone steals your number in real life (like at a restaurant).

    If you are super paranoid, don't let number 1 happen.
    As for number 2, you should always check for that "Lock" in your browser so you know it's secure. Don't worry about someone getting your info if it's locked because the security is so tight that even the most powerful computer in the world would require more than an entire lifetime to decrypt the information. If you really want to know the details of how secure online transaction work, I could give a brief overview just to convince you.
    And number 3 happens vary rarely, at all. 80% of ID thieves are people you know because they have the easiest access to your information.

    This is what I do:
    I have a bunch of money secured in another bank account. The rest of my money is on my debit card. I do this for a variety of reasons, but an indirect benefit of this is that IF (BIG IF) someone wipes my debit account clean, I can easily close that account and draw whatever money I need from my other account while I work with Visa and my bank to get my money back.

    Why not do something like that?
     
  17. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    Well I think just letting the credit card company deal with the rip offs is

    better. Just pay off the card at the end of the month to not get hit with

    interest and not be worried about losing my card ever. Whenever you make

    credit card purchases over the internet you never really know the reliability

    of who you are dealing with and if you'll get what you ordered. Any

    company can steal you card number because you give it to whoever you're

    dealing with. If they use it illegally then your not held responsible for any

    loses.
     
  18. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,989
    What you keep forgetting is that if you use your debit card online and it has a Visa logo on it (or Mastercard.. whatever) that the transaction goes through the credit card company first. If you get ripped off, you let the CC company deal with it. And because your card is protected under that CC company, you're fine.

    As I said, I have a credit card.. but I only use it to collect points. I don't ever use a credit card to buy something that I don't have the money for at the time.

    I don't think Ebay or Amazon is going to steal your information and use it. Deal only with reputable companies.
     
  19. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,105
    There is actually a number of available 'Top up' cards, they work like a debt card however you have to move the funds their first. The main problem with these 'top up' cards however is that the fee's charged are far greater than normal cards.

    Admittedly one example one (Maestro):
    https://prepay.ministryofsound.com/faq/q29.aspx

    As for 'Randomised card numbers' well you'd still have the chance of a Credit card generator algorithm being developed to generate the off-chance 'collisions' (how ever unlikely they might sound)
     
  20. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,083
    I have such a card and the fee my bank charges is minimal, some 0,3% or something.

    edit: not quite such, mine is only for internet purchases.
     

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