Online purchasing has been made easy that in the comfort of ones home they can order for goods, pay and have them delivered at their physical address with the introduction of a virtual credit card.

What is a Virtual Credit Card

Over the years this has been hampered by hackers who have used the system to fraud the online purchasers using the information they have obtained from the credit cards hence the introduction of the virtual credit card. A virtual credit card is a card which is a replica of the actual credit card and which a user can generate it online. This virtual credit card generated will only be used to make online purchase and not any other purchases. Like any other credit card the person must apply for this virtual credit card. All credit and lending elements will be taken into consideration by the company offering the virtual credit card.

The main characteristics of the virtual credit card which differentiate it from the physical credit card are as follows:

1. Virtual credit cards are only used for online purchases; one cannot make any other purchases using this card.
2. Virtual credit card may be a temporary card which can only be used to make this online purchase once and will not be used again as it will have expired once the transaction is successful.
3. Every-time one wants to make online purchases, then they have to enter the actual credit card information and a new number is generated for the virtual credit card which can then be used.
4. The virtual credit card does not reveal the actual account number and the account details of the actual credit card. These details are only visible to the account holder and the actual credit card provider.
5. The virtual credit card number which is generated and which can be seen is temporary and also useless and cannot be used to access the actual credit card account.
6. The virtual credit card since it generates a temporary number for a particular online purchase therefore there is no information and details of the actual credit card account. This ensures that the actual credit card is not used for fraud.

 Conclusion on virtual credit card

Since the world has become a global village, the introduction of the virtual credit card has brought a great revolution to online purchases. Curbing of fraud which had really been on the increase has also been enhanced by ensuring good data security systems while also giving the freedom to purchase online. Virtual credit card has revolutionised the concept of cards and their usage in this age.