In order to help consumers feel a bit more protected when using their credit cards over the phone or on the Internet, security experts are looking at ways to successfully create and implement disposable credit card numbers.
There are several different ideas being bounced around when it comes to these disposable numbers. With one of these ideas, the disposable number will only be good for making one transaction. This process was extensively explored recently in an edition of the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics (IJESDF). According to the researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom, this method would involve asking consumers to submit a DCCN rather than a regular credit card number when they make an online purchase. This secret code would be provided by the credit card company and would most likely be made by combining certain numbers involved with the transaction, such as the sale price and the credit card number.
The secret number would appear to be just a long list of random numbers and would be stored by the merchant. This way, the merchant doesn’t need to store the actual credit card details. This way, the merchant can’t read it and neither can a hacker. The credit card company, on the other hand, would be able to read the information because it would have the customer’s code number.
The idea of disposable credit cards really is nothing new. In fact, this type of technology has been around for about seven or eight years already. A simple process hasn’t been developed and, consequently, it hasn’t caught on with consumers. Consumers believe that they’re already safeguarded by card issuers from fraud when they use their credit cards, so they don’t really see a need for the disposable credit cards.
Another key difference is that the secret number is actually created offline. Consumers never have to actually enter their real credit card numbers online, which is much different from current systems such as the ShopSafe program with Bank of America and the Secure Online Account Numbers program with Discover. With these existing systems, numbers have to be entered online before they are changed.
Of course, feeling “protected” while shopping online isn’t a 100% guarantee. According to the FTC, 32% of the 800,000 complaints filed in 2007 were about identity theft while 68% were about other types of fraud. So, if there are other tools available to help give you added protection, it certainly is in your best interest to use them.
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