Use prepaid cards online
For pay online You will be able to use different types of cards. There are debit cards, which are the usual ones given by banks, but also credit cards. In addition, there is a third option that is precisely the one we recommend the most for making online purchases: prepaid or rechargeable cards.
How do the prepaid cards? Basically what you do is put the money you want and pay with them. For example, if you are going to make a purchase on Amazon or any platform and you need to pay €100, then you simply top up that €100 or something else and that’s it. You can make that purchase without problems.
In case an attacker were to steal the card, for example if you end up on a fake page created just to steal bank details, the most they would steal is the amount you have put on the prepaid card. If you put €100, then €100. On the other hand, if you pay with a credit card and your data is stolen, they could spend up to the maximum credit that that card has, unless you put some limit on online transactions or similar.
Therefore, without a doubt, to pay online, the best thing to do is use prepaid cards. There are many of this type, such as the Revolut card. You always have it as a purse and you recharge it when you need it. You even have the option of having a virtual card, so you don’t need to have it physically.
Precautions when paying online
But beyond recommending using prepaid cards to buy online, we are also going to give certain precautions so as not to have any problems. The objective is to be able to make online purchases without jeopardizing security and privacy.
One piece of advice is to always look very well where are you going to make the payment. If, for example, you are going to buy through a web page, take a good look at that site. Look at the URL, search for information on Google, read comments from other users… All this will help you detect if it really is a trustworthy site or if it could be a scam. Detecting if a page is safe to buy is key.
You should also avoid making payments through public Wi-Fi networks. Whenever you can, shop when you’re at home or from a reliable wireless network. However, you can use a VPN to encrypt the connection and avoid security problems. This will help you so that your card information is not leaked.
On the other hand, regardless of the card you use, you will always be able to configure it to request a second step in the transaction or configure it to have a limit. In case of theft, at least you will be more protected.
In short, this should be taken into account if you are going to buy online. Use prepaid cards whenever you can, since you can recharge them with the exact amount and you will have fewer security problems.
