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I use MBNA's random-generated "Shop Safe" credit card numbers. Citibank has the same thing that they call "Virtual Account Numbers." Essentially they let you set a limit and experation date on a temporary CC number (it is of coursed temporarilly tied back to your real account with them). It works great, and keeps sites that store your account info from screwing you up when they get hacked.

The concept is great for online, but I don't know why a "smart" CC couldn't do the same thing: allow you punch in a limit and download (bluetooth from your phone) a one-time credit card for un-trusted in-person merchants to bill against. You could have to put in your pin or whatever, but it wouldn't transmit across the store's machine, but via your cell phone back only to your bank.

Some sucker wants to double-swipe your card and store your info? It's worthless as the card number is going to expire in a month and is already maxed out (you'd set the limit to the amount of the purchase).

It's not ready for the masses who can't program their VCR's or the time on their microwave, but I've never had any CC fraud with online accounts since I started using MBNA's "Shop Safe" 4 years ago.

Go to their website and you can sign up online in a few minutes. They also have a downloadable app you can run on your PDA to generate single-use CC numbers.

I do this for all online purchases now. Even if a website isn't an outright scam, who's to say if they'll get hacked and my credit card number stolen? Using ShopSafe you can set charge limits, and close out a number after the expected charge has cleared.

Since losing a credit card number in an online purchase to a dbase hacker, I now use MBNA for all of my online shopping. It gives me a new credit card number everytime I use it, for which I can set an arbitrary $ amount before that number is consumed and also any expiration date for out to a year.

I generate new numbers using my browser, and even Safari works on OS X. I rest easy knowing that the particular number is set at just over the amount of my purchase, so even if the cc number was compromised it would have no more value attached.

You might be interested in the one-time use Credit Card that I have. From MBNA, it requires that you get one of their cards, and then sign up for an online account; afterwards, you sign back in to the online page, and then can set limits + expiration dates on any given purchase. I use it whenever a physical card isn't required by the vendor, which includes over the phone transactions etc. Works with my Mac OS X and Safari.

That's a good idea, and it would be better if the two accounts were in separate banks--I believe that a bank might use one account to cover shortages in the other; or if there was a dispute about charges in one account they would use the second to cover.

However, I'm too lazy to do such a thing, so for my online shopping + paypal I use a temporary credit card number. It allows me to set a credit card # with a specified amount and expiration date, online, using a secure flash window(?). So I know that I won't be out an amount larger than I've authorized; nice for PayPal transactions, or for shady eBay transactions.

I agree. I use a disposable credit card number, so each time I order I input a new credit card number anyway. Does anybody want to be one click away from sending the wrong product to the wrong address for too much money? Although it sure feels addictive in the iTIMS--if I didn't have one-click turned off, I can see spending many more dollars there through sheer impulsive purchasing.

However, I pay most of my bills online anyway.. If your credit card is through MBNA, like mine, you can pay your credit card bill online for free. And, that's just one example -- I'm sure that many (most?) other credit card companies also have similar facilities to pay online.

Then, there's also the other utilities. Where I'm living now, heat and water are included in the rent. But, I've arranged for my phone bill to be automatically paid from my bank account; your utlility/phone companies might have a similar service, but you'd have to ask them.

Alex Bischoff
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Ummm... MBNA *does* have online statement info

mbnanetaccess.com