What are disposable virtual cards?
Online purchases are becoming more popular every day, but at the same time Internet fraud known as carding or phishing also increases, which consists of stealing personal data from credit or debit cards at the time of making the money transaction electronics.
Faced with this scenario, financial institutions and banks have created various security mechanisms to make online payments reliableAmong the safest innovations are disposable or single-use virtual cards.
It is a financial instrument that it only exists virtually and it is single use. The cards generate a unique numbering, have an expiration date and a verification code or CVV.
Index of Contents
How do single-use virtual cards work?
People when making a purchase online deposit in the virtual card the amount of money they will need for the payment of your product or service and once the card is made it stops working. To make another payment they will have to generate another. That is, if you want to pay a 7 thousand peso cell phone through Amazon, this amount will be recharged on time to the card to carry out the transaction, and this will be the maximum money that can be spent, not one peso more, because it does not work as credit card.
The main advantage of disposable virtual cards is that are not directly tied to personal financial productsFor example, to the payroll or savings account, and if someone tries to steal the card and succeeds, they will only access the deposited funds. The thief will not even be able to take the personal data of the owner such as his name.
Another of its benefits is that this type of card they are administered over the internet, so there is no need to go to the bank and the user autonomously recharges and other operations that take immediate effect.
It should be noted that to obtain a virtual card, people have to request it from their bank through its mobile app or online banking. Once within these options, you must enter your personal bank account and autonomously generate the virtual card with the necessary data for the online transaction.
Some financial institutions additionally take other security measures such as the creation of a PIN code, to confirm the operation through the bank’s app or an SMS.
How to create a disposable virtual card?
It is very simple, commercial banking customers can download their bank’s mobile application and enter their bank account, from which they will select the option to create a virtual copy of the physical card. Next, the application will create a virtual version of the physical card but with the difference that it will generate a new card number and a temporary CVV and you will be told how long this instrument will be valid for.
Is a virtual card and a digital account the same?
These two financial products can be confused as if they were the same thing, but they are not. Although both have in common that they need the internet to function and that they allow shopping online, they are very different things.
A digital account is as its name says, a bank account with conventional functionsIn other words, it allows you to carry out bank transactions, receive deposits, pay for almost anything or service, but without the need to have a physical card.
Digital accounts are managed through the bank’s digital platforms such as online banking and a mobile app. In addition, these types of accounts are characterized by having a deposit limit of 3,000 UDIS, which is equivalent to 18,839 pesos.
But in contrast to a digital card specifically it is a virtual plastic that only serves to make an online payment and it works for a limited time.
What disposable virtual cards are there in Mexico?
BBVA Virtual
Through the BBVA Wallet mobile application you can generate a disposable virtual card to make online purchases, provided you have an account at this bank, since the card is based on the physical bank card. Another CVV is created and the maximum amount allowed to be used is the same as that on the plastic card. It is worth mentioning that the physical card number is kept. It has a validity of 2:30 minutes to use it, after this time you will have to generate another one.
Citibanamex Virtual Card
It can only be obtained by customers who have an account at this bank. To use it, account holders have to download the Citibanamex Pay app and log in. Citibanamex adds additional security measures to your virtual card, such as a Dynamic Key, which can be a code generated through NetKey or by means of an SMS; includes a security PIN and fingerprint usage.
In addition, the app allows you to create exclusive cards to buy on Amazon Libre and Uber.
Banorte Virtual Card
It is obtained by downloading the Banorte Móvil application and has a Dynamic Security Code or CVV for each purchase.
Santander Virtual Card
Through the Super Wallet app, Santander customers can create virtual cards with expiration dates. Santander adds the security measure of a Digital Token that must be confirmed.
Nubank Virtual Card
Nubank is a technology company dedicated to providing financial services, originally from Brazil. Your digital card is downloaded into the Nu mobile app and comes with the added measure of a PIN.
Considerations before purchasing a disposable virtual card
A financial instrument of this type has several benefits such as the ease of creating one at any time of the day and as it does not have a physical format it cannot be lost, even during the pandemic it is very useful, since making payments online avoids the transmission of the virus.
But its main advantage is the protection offered by virtual cards for online purchases, as they are not directly linked to the bank account data and that only the owner is the only one who knows the numbering and CVV of the virtual card to make the purchase. In addition, this digital instrument usually has an additional one-time verification code for added security.
On the other hand, before creating a disposable digital card it is important to consider knowing if it generates any type of additional expense, for example, if you ask for commissions for hiring, for carrying out operations and for maintenance.
Likewise, it is important to ask the bank that issues it what is the expiration time, the limit of funds that can be deposited and if it asks for a minimum income to make a payment or monetary operation. Also if a tax is charged for buying with a currency other than the national one or if it is possible to link it to a payment platform to use it in physical stores with the help of a cell phone or smart watch.
