Would Virtual Cards Help Decrease Card Theft Numbers?
| October 21, 2009 |
Believe it or not, identity theft is one of the top fears consumers have and for good reason. Many people have heard the horror stories that have come along with an unsuspecting person finding out the hard way that they no longer control any aspect of their financial life. According to an article entitled, "2009 Continues Trend of Record Credit Card Security Breaches" it seems that credit card numbers and information is still considered the prime choice of thieves as experts are seeing data security breach numbers that match a record setting 2008.
One solution that both financial institutions and experts agree will help curve the amount of credit card numbers stolen in security breaches is the use of virtual credit cards. Virtual credit cards are just like the real thing, but add extra protection for the consumer during online shopping. At the moment many banks are testing the cards, and some are even offering them to their consumers as the preferred choice of online shopping. For example, earlier this year CitiGroup announced a partnership with MasterCard to offer companies a payment solution known as "Citi Virtual Card Accounts".
Although virtual cards will not help the consumer at brick and mortar locations, it can help ensure that your credit card information will be safe while shopping online. Once the virtual card begins to go more main-stream, I imagine that we will see newer technology that will hopefully lead to more security when purchases are made at a business’ physical location.
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