Two weeks ago, my wife noticed an unusual transaction set as pending on our bank account for £40. We didn’t recognise the amount, and the date didn’t match anything we had purchased. We monitored it, thinking it might be an accident that would expire and not actually charge.
A week later, my bank app asked me to approve an £80 transaction. Since my wife and I were out and hadn’t requested a purchase, I immediately declined it through my phone’s bank app because it wasn’t recognised. It turned out that the previous pending transaction had cleared on the same day, likely prompting the same person to try again and increase the amount with the second charge. I also knew from previous experience that dealing with lost or stolen cards could be a hassle, so I expected issues sorting out the situation.
That evening, when I accessed my bank app, I discovered a handy feature: I could temporarily “freeze” my bank cards to stop any transactions processing. This was preferable to reporting the card lost or stolen immediately, as it gave me time to verify if the charge was legitimate (in case I had made a mistake). This “freeze” feature can be used for various purposes, such as placing a rarely used card on freeze for security/safety or when you suspect card fraud on your account.
Am I late to the party on this one? Maybe, but as I hadn’t heard of virtual cards before, I thought it was worth telling others.
After reviewing the attempted and successful charge, I reported the card stolen using my bank app. It was incredibly easy to do this, and I suspect all banks offer this service nowadays. Of course, you still need to update your payment details for bills and online shops, but this experience taught me something new: virtual cards exist. It also saved a very long call reporting the stolen card.
A virtual card is simply an electronic version of your physical card. They can be easily cancelled, and features vary. For example, my bank allows me to have two virtual cards alongside my physical one, each with a different card number and details. This way, I can use one virtual card online and another for Apple Pay on my mobile, while keeping my physical card private for in-person transactions like using a cash machine or ATM. This way, if anything happens, I can simply cancel the affected card number that has been exposed, while still having other bank cards to use. Useful.
I remember years ago when you had to spend hours sorting and reporting lost or stolen cards, which was incredibly stressful. Thankfully, the speed at which you can stop and freeze cards nowadays prevents an influx of fraudulent transactions on your account. Setting up the new virtual cards was also easy. The only time I still wasted time was updating bills and online retailers with new payment details, but now I simply enter the new virtual card.
The virtual card has proven handy. Without it, I would be stuck waiting for my new physical card. At least I can still now purchase online and use the virtual cards with my phone wallet.
When I applied for the virtual card, the initial setup took 24 hours. However, I understand that it will be much quicker in the future now that I have the facility. I can cancel and reissue the card whenever I need to. Not all banks offer this option yet, and functionality can differ, but this does appear to be a positive step forward.
Hopefully, card fraud is reducing, but scams remain a significant issue. Thankfully, my wife closely monitors our transactions, and the app asking for authorisation on the second attempted transaction alerted us. However, I’m still concerned about how my details were gained or accessed. If you can use or set up a virtual card with your bank, I would recommend it. It could make your life easier if your bank details are ever compromised.
