Virtual card

Posted byBiren Parekh November 28, 2016August 7, 2019

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10 Comments on Virtual card

Due to the recent demonetization in India to curb black money & fake money menace, one of my family friends was complaining about cash shortage. I asked him, “why don’t you use credit or debit card for online shopping? You will not have any issues.”  He replied that he was scared of using credit and debit cards for online shopping, so I explained to him as following on how to use the virtual card for online transactions, instead of real debit or credit card.

1. A virtual credit card (VCC) or an electronic card (also called e-card) is a “one-time use” online card created specifically for e-commerce transactions. It’s really a virtual card & there is no physical existence of the card. It is purely created for online transactions or payments.
2. Anyone with the net banking facility of his banking account having transaction banking rights (or valid credit or debit card) can create a virtual card in seconds.
3. Mostly, since virtual cards are created for temporary use, they are valid for a maximum of two days from the time of creation, or until the online transaction is completed.
4. The Virtual card has to be created for any amount rounded in relevant currency i.e. Rupees.
5. Once the purchase is successfully completed (or after the time limit expires), the unutilized amount is credited back to the account. The amount is debited from your account or card only after the purchase is completed, thus providing high security & flexibility.
6. Thus, the Virtual card effectively provides immunity to the user from any card related frauds, as the real credit or debit card details are not exposed to the merchant.
7. Normally, this service is free but it varies from bank to bank. Such cards are also valid for international transactions. And yes, you can request to block your Virtual card, similar to a real credit card.
8. In case your merchant has to refund the amount due to non-availability of product or any other reason, the money gets refunded to a real credit card. So, one need not be also worried about even refund.
9. The limit on a number of creating virtual cards varies from bank to bank. Generally, they allow us to create four to five virtual cards a day, but some banks allow creating an unlimited number of Virtual cards in a day as well.
10. Another important aspect which many of us consider while doing credit card transactions is loyalty point. Yes, loyalty point gets credited to your credit or debit card account when the transaction is successfully completed using Virtual Card!

My friend got convinced with above facts & agreed to start doing transactions using the Virtual card.