Best VCC (virtual credit card) service, websites and suppliers

VCC (Virtual credit cards) are a fairly new phenomenon, allowing people to shop securely online. The idea of a virtual credit card is fairly similar to that of a normal credit card; you use the name, 16 digit card number, expiry date and security code to make purchases online. With only a set balance on each card, it means that if stolen (digitally), then there would be a limit on how much could be spent. What’s more, is these can be created and destroyed when needs be.

They also have other benefits, such as non recurring billing. If you purchased something that tried to bill you monthly, then you could sign up with a virtual credit card, cancel the card – and then not face being billed again. Some people also use virtual credit cards for verifying Paypal accounts, and verifying eBay accounts.

But, which virtual credit card merchant is the best? I’ll list them, from best, to worst.

Entropay – Entropay is the largest and most trusted VCC company in the UK, available for users across the world. Not only is it the most trusted, but also (by far), the cheapest. The only fees for Entropay are for loading funds onto a card, and transferring funds from one card to the other. The load fee is just 4.95%, meaning that topping up £100 would cost just £5. Compare this to paying $50 for a VCC with $30 on it, and you realise its quite a bargain.

What’s more, Entropay allow you to create as many virtual credit cards as you wish. Each come as an online graphic, with the card number, expiry date, and security code – ready to shop online. Cards can be deleted, free of charge once you have finished spending, or don’t want to be rebilled.

Entropay do ask for a form of ID, such as a passport number or driving license number. However, from what I gather, these are not checked.

HDFC Bank (Netsafe) - HDFC bank is the only bank that offers a virtual credit card system to all account holders. Unfortunately this is only available for those living in India – and is thought that it’s HDFC cards that people sell on VCC websites. Being a very large bank, these guys are clearly no scammers – and you can create as many VCC’s as you wish. What’s more, is this comes at no cost.

Each card is given a balance from your main card balance, and you are unable to spend more than that balance on the card. Again, these can be created and cancelled on the fly.

Epassporte – Epassporte offers account holders a virtual Visa service, providing a service similar to that of Entropay. Users must sign up for an Epassporte eWallet, and the virtual Visa will cost $5. It will deduct the balance from your ePassporte account.

Again, this guys are another lagre insitution, and you can be sure your money is safe in their hands.

Neteller – Neteller is a well established online funds transfer serivce. I had never heard of it untill I saw someone mention it on a forum, but all of the reviews I looked at thereafter were very good indeed. They offer Net+ cards, which are virtual Mastercards which you can create for free, on the fly. You will however need to send in some form of ID, or verify you own a bank account.

Other private VCC resellers: There are many other sellers of VCCs, who ususally run off smaller websites. Beware of a lot of them, here is a list of websites which you are safe to buy from:

www.111card.com

www.www-card.com

Tags | entropay, epassporte, vcc, virtual credit card