The discussion thus far seems tied to paying for things in-person. I'm not much concerned about this as I use Google Wallet for almost all payments now --- this has gotten much better than it had once been.
For online payments, however, more often than not I'm required to give an actual credit card number. I bias to use paypal where that's supported, but this isn't nearly often enough.
Of the remaining payments, I mentally divide them into two categories: "one-off" payments to a vender I might never buy from again, and on-going payments, the latter often withdrawn automatically via credit card or bank ACH. The latter, of course, require an actual credit card. In the past, for the one-off situations I gave a seldom-used credit card like a sort of sacrificial lamb --- no big problem if fraud detected, but still annoying.
Today I use a virtual credit card in those situations. Google Wallet offers this as an option for most (maybe all?) of my cards now. Just yesterday I booked a private tour with an overseas museum where I had to give an actual credit card number along with expiration date and 3-digit security code. No problem, the one-time virtual card number was accepted just fine. I recommend that.
For online payments, however, more often than not I'm required to give an actual credit card number. I bias to use paypal where that's supported, but this isn't nearly often enough.
Of the remaining payments, I mentally divide them into two categories: "one-off" payments to a vender I might never buy from again, and on-going payments, the latter often withdrawn automatically via credit card or bank ACH. The latter, of course, require an actual credit card. In the past, for the one-off situations I gave a seldom-used credit card like a sort of sacrificial lamb --- no big problem if fraud detected, but still annoying.
Today I use a virtual credit card in those situations. Google Wallet offers this as an option for most (maybe all?) of my cards now. Just yesterday I booked a private tour with an overseas museum where I had to give an actual credit card number along with expiration date and 3-digit security code. No problem, the one-time virtual card number was accepted just fine. I recommend that.
Statistics: Posted by xb7 — Wed Jan 21, 2026 11:02 am — Replies 22 — Views 1042