Increased online commerce

A few years ago the way we made purchases was very different. It is true that the Internet commerce It is not something new, but we have experienced an explosion in recent years. Especially there has been an increase in consumer confidence. If before there were certain reluctance to buy some products, today it has nothing to do with it.

This makes us venture to buy almost anything online. That makes us less suspicious of the different platforms available on the net. Now the truth is that this can be a double-edged sword. We could be confident and end up paying with some insecure payment method or in a fake place.

There is something that has made all this increase: the mobile use. We can take practically any mobile device, enter the Internet and make a purchase. There are even applications that allow us to make a click-through purchase and pay immediately.

But the fact that e-commerce has increased so much has also led to a growth in computer attacks. Hackers set their sights on what is most widely used and can steal passwords, personal data, or even bank information when making payments.

Types of cards that exist

To avoid problems when shopping online it is essential to use cards that are secure. In fact, we can say that it is one of the most reliable methods. They are very useful for their ease of use and there are also a large number of options available. We will always be backed up and therefore they are a safe option. We are going to talk about different usual options that exist on the Internet and explain what are the positive and negative points of each one of them. The objective is to know at all times what possible security risks we are going to find in each option and to be able to use the one that helps us the most to avoid risks.

Credit

The first option is credit cards. We can say that it is the most insecure of those that we are going to see. It is not insecure by its nature, by how they work, but by the limits it may have. In the event of a computer attack, that is stolen or lost, it is the one that will be most exposed of all of them.

The limit it is a point to consider in this case. ¿What does that mean? We will even be able to keep the bank account negative. If we have, for example, an account with 500 €, but associated with that account we have a credit card of up to 1000 €, we will be able to spend those 1000 €. The account will remain negative.

For this reason, it is important to report as soon as possible in case of loss or theft. Also, luckily today it is very easy to block cards even from the mobile phone, within the banking application, so it is something to do as soon as possible.

Debit

The next option we have are the debit cards. They are safer than credit. These cards will have a lower spending limit than credit cards, but we will also be limited to the money existing in our bank account ( with some exceptions and whenever we configure it ).

This means that in case someone steals our card, they will not be able to spend that much money. Once I reach the limit, you will not be able to spend beyond that amount. Even if we have a bank account with little money and the debit card is linked to that account, they could not spend more than that amount.

Of course, although we say that they are safer than credit, it is also convenient to cancel the debit card as soon as fraud, data theft or loss is detected. This will avoid additional problems.

Coin or prepaid

These cards are much safer. They also serve to make purchases on the Internet and pay in any store, but they have a plus reliability. ¿Why are they safer? Basically it is a card to which we can deposit an exact amount of money. We can put that money through another card, a bank transfer, deposit by the cashier, etc.

If for example you are going to buy something online that costs 100 €, you simply make sure that card has 100 € at the time of payment and that's it. You don't need me to always have money. It is certainly an option for minimize risks and that in case of loss or theft it does not affect beyond the money we want to have, which can even be 0 € except when we go to buy something.

There are options of this type, such as the Bnext or Revolut card. They work similarly and in both cases you simply have to put the amount of money we want in and make payments online or purchases in places where there may be some risk.

Virtual cards

A very safe option and similar to the previous one are virtual cards. In this case, it is the bank itself that allows us to have one or even several virtual cards to make purchases online. Are independent cards of the main one, which we are simply going to use for those specific purchases that we make. We have to recharge with the corresponding amount and that's it.

It should be mentioned that sometimes this type of virtual card changes the numbering. If someone manages to steal the bank details when making a payment, they will not be able to use them later since they will change. An extra security that certainly comes in handy to pay.

Store specific cards

There is also the option to use a specific card from a store. It really will act as a rechargeable card or purse. It is not something that is very widespread, at least not in Spain, but it is one more alternative that we can take into account for electronic commerce and not have problems.

Basically they are cards that the store itself provides and that we can recharge. At any time we can use it to make a purchase, without the need to use credit, debit cards or any other alternative method we have.

¿What are the safest for the Internet?

When paying online by card, the safest are virtual and prepaid that we can recharge with the exact amount. Virtual ones allow you to even have a uniquely numbered card for each purchase that is made, so the one we are using will stop working once the process is complete and a potential attacker could not use it in the future to impersonate us and make a fraudulent payment. In addition, they also have the option to set limits.

Prepaid cards or purse are basically recharged when we need them. If for example you are going to make an online purchase and you are going to buy a product that costs 100 €, you simply make sure to recharge it with that amount and that's it. You only expose the price you are really going to pay for that purchase and you limit the ability of an attacker to steal from you.

On the other hand, those that we least advise are those of debit and, above all, those of credit. In this case we could have more problems if we were victims of a computer attack. They could rob us up to the limit of the debit card, which could be the amount of money we have in a bank account. Those of credit could even go further, since we could stay negative up to a certain limit.

Therefore, if you are going to buy online and want to pay by card, our advice is to use the virtual and prepaid ones. This will give you more guarantees that a hypothetical attacker will not steal money from your accounts, since it would be limited to the amount assigned to each of them.

Common scams when paying by card on the Internet

As you can see, there are different options for pay online by card. It is essential that you choose a safe option, since otherwise you could suffer some of the cyber attacks that we are going to explain and that will make your data compromised. At all times you must be prepared.

Phishing attacks

We can say that it is one of the main scams when making an online payment, putting bank details or any type of personal information. It basically consists of accessing a page on the Internet that pretends to be legitimate, but it really is a scam and it has been created to steal that data.

It can happen when making a payment on platforms such as Amazon or any online service. Clicking through a link takes us to a page that seems legitimate. However, this is a copy that has been designed only to steal the card data and put our security at risk.

Robbery on insecure Wi-Fi networks

This can happen when you make a payment from an unreliable wireless network. For example a Public Wi-Fi in a shopping center, airport or any similar place. It could have been created simply to steal data. We don't really know who may be behind.

In these cases it is even more essential to use a secure bank card with which to minimize risks as much as possible. However, you can also use some options such as a VPN. This will allow the information you send on the network to travel in encrypted form.

Skimming

One more danger is what is known as Skimming. It is a different case from the previous ones, since it is not a modified web page or a site that simply has malware capable of collecting card data when paying. But it can also be a major problem.

In this case, it is a modified hardware that is capable of copying the data from the card. This time the problem appears when you are going to buy in a physical place. You will record the bank card information without you noticing. It is not a regular thing, but it is one more possibility.

In short, as you have seen there are different types of bank cards that you can use. It is important that you choose a secure option, since this will keep your personal data protected and avoid problems that affect your privacy and security on the network.