Google says using a virtual card number can help you keep your payment information safe. Here’s how you can use it.
Let’s be real, sometimes suspicious online websites have the best deals or the items we need. When you feel hesitant about entering your card information, you could benefit from using a virtual card — not to be confused with a digital wallet.
In observation of Financial Literacy Month, Google shared ways users can keep their payment information protected using Google Pay, and, unsurprisingly, virtual cards made the list due to their ability to protect your card information easily and efficiently.
A virtual card is a unique credit card number you can enter on a site to complete a transaction. The technology masks your actual card information, keeping it hidden from businesses, and helps protect you against fraud.
Some virtual cards expire after every transaction, so if anyone accesses your card information, that number would be useless to them. Other virtual cards, like Google Pay, have a longer duration.
The perk of these cards is that if someone steals the payment information, you can cancel the virtual card instead of the entire account.
