Will Credit Card Payments Shift to Using Virtual Numbers?

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When it comes to credit and debit card fraud, do you think of it as a major deal? For many Americans, who use their plastic as a way of making payments everyday, it actually ranks near the top, exceeding that of terrorism, computer viruses, health viruses and personal safety. This fear is justifiable as more electronic records were stolen in 2008 than any of the previous four years combined, and that within a years time period, major breaches at Heartland, Hannaford, and TJX lead headlines on news stations across America .

 

These security breaches are something that not only hurt consumers, but also tarnishes the reputation of merchants, card issuers and branders. This has been a major focus of companies such as Visa. This is where added security known as “virtual numbers” takes effect. Companies like Visa would like to replace the actual credit card number with virtual numbers during payment processes, which hopefully would hide the real number from individuals who intend to use it for fraudulent activities.

 

There are many benefits to using these virtual numbers. One of the main benefits is that merchants will never see or store the actual card number that is associated with the virtual number, just the virtual number itself.

 

Personally, I hope that this will help in the fight against card fraud and data thieves, or at least give consumers added protection for our card purchases. Although I know that this solution will someday become obsolete, any protection is better than getting that letter in the mail stating that your information and accounts may have been accessed or stolen.