What is a virtual credit or debit card?
A virtual credit or debit card works in the same way as an ordinary payment card, but without a physical version. Rather than keep a rectangular piece of plastic in your wallet, you store virtual cards in a digital wallet on your phone or on a website and use them to make purchases online and wherever contactless payments are accepted.
Virtual cards are usually linked to a real credit or debit card, and – much like using a disposable email address – they protect you against theft and fraud by concealing your real account number. The card can’t be stolen or cloned, and its 16-digit number,using end-to-end encryption.
