✅ Virtual / Disposable Cards

Feedback & Ideas Done!
1

Howdy! I’ve recently came to UK and joined monzo aswell, so far so good! But I think it would be a great ideia to implement a system that could generate virtual cards let’s call it “Monzie Cards” :smile: .

In Portugal I used to have a similar service called “MB Way” which was very handy for safer online purchases but unfortunately I shouldn’t use it here because my bank account is in Euro and well… fees…

Basically , what I had in mind is an adaptation of that system we use in Portugal to Monzo.
It should work like this:

In Monzo app you would have the ability to generate your own Monzies which are disposable virtual cards that can only be used once, a Monzie would have spending limit set by you, a complete mastercard number, a short expire date and a CVV. After completing a payment that Monzie is expired and cannot be used again.

You could also have the option to generate a Merchant Monzie that can be used multiple times but only be used by specific merchant, this type of Monzie would have an expiration date of your choice with a monthly spending limit or a total limit and can be cancelled at any time. (ie. You could generate 1year Merchant Monzie for Amazon with a monthly cap of 50£ or a total limit of 500£ during 1year)

Heres a pratical example of how to use a Monzie:

Eg1) Let’s say Joe is very tempted to buy some sneakers online but that specific website seems a bid dodgy… Still… Joe is a bit naïve and decides to give them a try but just to play safe he is going to use a Monzo. So Joe generates a Monzie of 45£, insert his details, pays and right after that card is already expired. If the website turns out to be a scam Joe knows they won’t be able to get him anymore than 45£ and his ‘real’ details of his physical card / account are still safe.

Eg2) Joeberg wants to try an online service but he is a busy guy and sometimes forgets to cancel his subscriptions on time, then he always ends up being charged for a service he didn’t wanted after all… Well that’s about to change! Now Joeberg can use a Monzie! Next time Joe uses a free trial that requires payment details upfront, he can simply generate a 5£ Monzee, submit and have some piece of mind because when the trial ends that card is already expired and there is no way he can be charged.

Such service would be great to :

• Avoid giving your real details
• Avoid Losing cards then have to cancel/order new ones
• Prevent phishing scams
• Use on free trials that may charge you without notice

What about refunds for those cards you may ask, well IIRC, refunds can made as long as your main card is still active…

What do you guys think? Share your ideias around this!

21 Likes
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I think this is a great idea. I don’t think it’s a confirmed future feature yet, but it’s definitely something that’s on Monzo’s radar:

3 Likes
3

Howsabout Mozie gift cards? You send a virtual gift card to your family and friends and they can use their smartphone and spend it how they like- they could also get a fast-pass golden ticket to a Monzo current account perhaps? :wink:

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4

Definitely would be an awesome feature. I’ve had two incidences of fraud on my credit card this year, aside from the inconvenience, I hate the idea that criminals might be getting away with this. I’d love to use unique details with each merchant so I have a better idea how it happened, and set a limit per merchant to limit what criminals can get away with.

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5

This is a fantastic idea :grin: I’d use it all the time

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6

Definitely something I would use on lesser known websites that I was making one off purchases from.

7

It would be really nice to see virtual Card numbers or controlled payment numbers for the below use cases (there will be more I am sure) would be very handy. Mastercard already have this capability.

Card number for use with only one merchant, when leaving card details with the likes of Ticketmaster it would be super easy to track fraud back to the originating (breached) merchant/website.

Card number for one time use. When purchasing with a merchant who you cannot completely verify, or purchasing with high risk websites such as crypto currency exchanges.

8

I was just searching this!
+1 would love to have this on the feature list!

Even the big list Monzo currently has going.

9

Has Monzo any plans to introduce virtual cards that can be used one time. Ideal for online transactions.

2 Likes
10

What advantage would that have over using your regular card? :thinking:

11

Randomly generated card number per transaction would be nice. Would help combat online fraud.

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12

Fair bit of online security - even if someone did get your details, they are null and void once the transaction is done.

I think this is a great idea, would be great to have.

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13

I’ve used virtual disposable cards on revolut and love them. Just moved my current account to monzo and would love this feature here as well.

I would also like the ability to disable wireless contact for the card. (Not freeze the card as I use Apple Pay) something for another thread.

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14
  • Lock the virtual card to a single merchant
  • Fix virtual card to a single amount / or fixed amount over a set period of time
  • Single use virtual cards
  • Virtual cards that allow the use of any name / address

All the above provided a greater deal of privacy and protection.

When a card gets cloned or misused it can be corrected but it’s a hassle we all want to avoid.

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15

Having a virtual card that was tied to a specific pot would be very interesting to me.

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16

We can implement one time use virtual card creation facility giving user option to create a virtual card , with specific amount and use it online shopping, this way they never expose original card number to shopping site and less chance of fraud.

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17

I love this idea. It’d be especially great to have some sort of browser integration, similar to what’s offered by https://privacy.com/. Maybe that could be made by the community if the virtual cards could be created with the API.

18

You can do this with Revolut. I wonder what the take up is.

19

This will be good but honestly with “strong customer authentication” regulations it would be less of an issue. Websites will be required to implement 3D Secure or be liable for any fraud so it isn’t a big deal if a card number is compromised.

The only other use-case I see for virtual card numbers would be to game the free trial offers by signing up again and again with a new card number, but that’s a pretty niche use case to be honest.

20

The claim from revolut was that it reduced card fraud by 30%.

That’s got to be good even just to avoid the hassle.

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/32447/revolut-slashes-fraud-with-disposable-virtual-cards