Online Virtual Cards

Hereā€™s some more detail on the use case for virtual cards, from a Monzo Security and Fraud engineer -

Itā€™s always interesting to hear how adding these features can help Monzo prevent fraud, which ultimately benefits users too :thumbsup:

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On a related matter, sometimes (such as today!) I would like to have a virtual (legacy other bank) current account number (and sort code?) to provide to a third party. I realise it is hard to abuse a sort code/account number, but it doesnā€™t always feel right giving these away to one-off payees, who I perhaps donā€™t trust. Monzo Me helps get round this for smaller transactions with some people, but only for payment by card. Or could each account holder have two or three numbers, one of which is ā€œmoney inbound onlyā€?

From a money laundering/fraud perspective, the virtual account can still be traced to the primary Monzo account holder, and I suppose when account name becomes part of the payment check step, there will be less problems caused by re-use of account numbers?

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I would love to see this - sometimes I donā€™t want to give out my main card details and being able to use a one-time or virtual card instead would be an absolute gamechanger. It would certainly cement me as a loyal Monzo customer!

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Danielā€™s just confirmed that this is something heā€™s working on & shared a little bit of detail on how this will work :heart_eyes:

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could this also work for instant issuing of cards?

e.g. i lost my card/it was stolen. you instantly issue me a new card that i can use online and/or add to android pay/apple pay/samsung pay?

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Potentially yes :heart_eyes:

Jonas mentioned how instant issuing could work a while ago in a podcast - for a slightly different use case but obviously the technology is the same -

From experience with Apple Pay, as soon as my bank (Santander) cancelled my old card and said they were sending my new card the card in my Apple Wallet updated so could be used straight away.

Not sure if this is standard functionality of Apple Pay (and android/samsung etc.) or not.

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Really?

Iā€™ve read in bank and apple and android support that this doesnt happen -
but great if it does!

They all say you need to manually add your new card.

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Thatā€™s how it worked for me, as I say not sure if itā€™s just Santander or not, but was practically instantaneous from the guy saying my new card would be with me in a few days. He even specifically said I could carry on using Apple Pay.

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I came here to suggest exactly the same thing ā€“ Revolut have the option to add additional cards (Ā£5 each) which can either be virtual or physical (same price for each for some reason). However at home in the UK I prefer to do everything through Monzo due to the better app interface and money management features.

Having just got a replacement card, it means changing card details on Amazon, Uber, Spotify etc, and it would be great to have an ā€˜un-losableā€™ virtual card which would still add all the spends to my Monzo totalsā€¦

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Whoa, thatā€™s actually great practical use. I mean, I kinda knew it, but didnā€™t fully realise the scope. I dig it, Iā€™ll do that if Monzo ever offers virtual cards.

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Standard functionality of Apple Pay: Yes.
Implemented by most issuers: No.

:disappointed:

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It would be nice to be able to set maximum payment amounts for each virtual card. For example, I pay 9Ā£ a month for Spotify so there is no valid reason for that card number to be debited more than that amount - if it does then it means the card number has been compromised. A max payment amount would block fraudulent payments above the maximum as well as lock out the number in case of fraud.

Thereā€™s a bank in the US - Final who based their entire business model around providing virtual cards so it would be nice if Monzo could offer this as well.

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Just been looking at a credit card that is only available in the US called Final. It produces extra credit card numbers that can be used with one merchant or just for a one off purchase. You get a physical card and an app - a bit like Monzo, but can generate 'alias ā€™ numbers for use for subscriptions or one off purchases on the internet. Sounds like a great idea to me and maybe something Monzo could do.

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Saw this idea a few years ago and thought it was fantastic, but not been able to find anyone in the UK that do it, so hereā€™s hoping itā€™s something Monzo will do in the future.

The team have talked about their desire to do this before, and itā€™s something that having the in-house card processor makes possible.

And as Alex pointed out :arrow_up:, Richard strongly hinted that this is a feature which will come in the future.

Iā€™d like the ability to generate temporary card numbers for use online to make it easier to revoke. We would be able to generate a temporary card number, assign a label to it and use it online just like our physical card number. We would then be able to revoke access to the temporary number without freezing our whole card, which would mean I could use a disposable card number on sites like Sonyā€™s Playstation store, who have a history of data leaks.

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You could always PayPal, that way no information is handed over to the 3rd party. PayPal are also very quick to reimburse for malicious use. More online vendors are using it more then ever.

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Thatā€™s my current solution, however paypal are one of the vendors Iā€™d like to be able to revoke access to. Online retailers tend to charge extra for going through paypal too in my experience.

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Makes me wonder if PayPal will be included in the ban on fees as essentially you are using a debit/credit card behind itā€¦

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