http://commons.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php?title=Beautiful_Trade/Single_Use_and_Multiple-Use_Virtual_Cards&action=history&feed=atom 2013-05-23T11:56:14Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.11.0 http://commons.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php?title=Beautiful_Trade/Single_Use_and_Multiple-Use_Virtual_Cards&diff=24537&oldid=prev 2009-06-30T02:58:21Z

<p>New page: '''Single-Use and Multiple-Use Virtual Cards''' A recent trend in cardholder security comes via virtual cards. Companies such as PayPal, MBNA, and Citi are among some of the larger comp...</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Single-Use and Multiple-Use Virtual Cards''' <br /> <br /> A recent trend in cardholder security comes via virtual cards. Companies such as PayPal, <br /> MBNA, and Citi are among some of the larger competitors in this space. <br /> <br /> A virtual card is used in card-not-present transactions just like a regular credit card, and it is <br /> processed by the merchant in exactly the same manner. In fact, the merchant is not even aware <br /> that this card is virtual, and thus treats it with the same care as the other card account numbers <br /> going through the merchant systems. <br /> <br /> How virtual cards work <br /> <br /> Each supplier differs slightly in its implementation of virtual cards, but there are essentially <br /> two variants: single-use and multiple-use virtual cards. Both types are usually generated “on the fly” via a cardholder request. An existing card account holder requests a virtual card from <br /> her virtual card provider for use on a particular e-commerce site. The provider supplies the <br /> account holder with a virtual card number, including an expiration date and CV2 security code. <br /> A single-use card can be used for a single transaction involving a limited payment. These cards <br /> typically expire in a matter of weeks or less and can be used only with the merchant designated <br /> during the cardholder’s request. Thus, lost or stolen information rapidly becomes invalid and <br /> worthless to the attacker. <br /> Multiple-use virtual cards are also available through many virtual card providers. These allow <br /> for use cases where recurring charges apply, such as paying a monthly bill. Multiple-use cards <br /> still carry with them many of the security features of their single-use equivalents, such as being <br /> valid with a single merchant and containing limited monthly charge caps. If a multiple-use <br /> virtual card is lost or stolen, an attacker could use the card only at that merchant and only for <br /> the authorized amount of the recurring charge. This mitigates a great deal of fraud.</div>

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