I can see why banks, Walmart, CanTire, large retailers would not want to do virtual credit cards. They make a lot more money on their credit card than their actual products. When people are late to pay the interest rates are 20% and above. I've not heard of virtual credit cards, but know from a financial perspective banks and fin companies would be discouraged from doing them.

They make way more money when you buy a lot, then pay the minimum balance, along with their interest rate. This is why credit cards are available, often, for no charge, and you get card benefits on top. That expense comes from others who pay the card's high interest rates.

Don.

On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 at 18:24, CAREY SCHUG via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
and if you use paypal, it should pop out a direct paypal window for your password, so the questionable site gets only the paypal number and can't reuse it.

Carey

> On 01/28/2026 2:51 PM CST Giles Orr via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
>
> 
> My apologies, this is not a Linux question.  But this crowd is fairly
> security- and technology-oriented, so it seems like the right place to
> ask.
>
> I'd like to make purchases online with one-time-use credit card
> numbers (think how nice this would be with dubious websites that have
> something you really want: their bad security won't ruin your credit
> rating days or years later).  This idea has been around since at least
> the early 2000s, but it's inconvenient - and as the Dead Kennedys
> said, give me convenience or give me death!  But I'm willing to give
> up some convenience in the name of security.
>
> Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_payment_number
>
> The idea is that you generate a new credit card number for each
> purchase, or perhaps each vendor (which can't be used by anyone else -
> locked to the vendor).  And/or put a credit cap on each number.  The
> inconvenience is that they're short-lived and you have to generate new
> ones frequently.  Which is also going to cause overhead for the bank,
> who will charge you more.
>
> What I'm learning is that A) inconvenience and cost makes them
> undesirable so they're not common, and B) there aren't many in Canada.
> Most recently, a bank employee has pointed out that RBC does have a
> Virtual Debit Card (
> https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/banking-services/virtual-visa-debit/index.html
> ) - but what I immediately noticed is that this seems to be managed
> through a phone app.  I really don't want more personal data
> concentrated in my phone.  Yes, I get why it's on the phone for
> in-store purchases, but my use-case is actually online and I'd prefer
> to manage it through their website or at worst a plugin.  <sigh>
>
> According to a four year old Reddit thread, both Koho and Neo offer
> VCCs in Canada, although it doesn't sound like either is particularly
> well-loved.  And I would prefer (if only by a small margin) to go with
> a bricks-and-mortar Canadian bank.
>
> Does anyone have experience with any Canadian virtual credit or debit
> cards?  Any suggestions welcome.
>
> --
> Giles
> https://www.gilesorr.com/
> gilesorr@gmail.com
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