There is no doubt that using a VPN can have significant security and privacy benefits. It can help navigate more securely when connected to a public Wi-Fi network, for example. They are also useful for bypassing geo-blocking and help us hide the real IP address. However sometimes there can be problems. One of them is when making a online payment with VPN. Why can it be a problem?
Paying via VPN can be a problem
Although the goal is to improve security and make surfing the Internet more reliable at times, you can pose a problem. Everything will depend on which VPN we are using. And we can also apply this when making a purchase or paying something online through a bank card, since it might not work.
The card can give error
An example of why paying via VPN can sometimes be a problem is that the bank blocks the card. This is a security method that in many cases is established by the bank itself to prevent fraud and in case the card is stolen. It can detect that you have entered from a strange IP and that will raise suspicions.
For security, what the bank would do is block that transaction. It could even not let you enter the banking application, something that happens in some entities when you connect to an IP that is not Spanish. It is not common, but there are cases in which this happens. However, we can also be in the opposite case, that we are traveling and need to use a VPN to connect as if we were in Spain.
Security issues with the VPN
Another problem is that we may be using a Dangerous VPN. Not all of them are safe. Not all of them are going to really protect our privacy on the net. Especially those that are free can cause problems and make our data compromised when browsing or even when making a payment.
Therefore, if you are going to buy something online and you are connected through a VPN, you should make sure that it is reliable, guarantees and that it works correctly. You can always check that the VPN is working fine. The goal is to avoid problems that put security at risk.
The platform blocks
On the other hand, it may be the platform itself where you are going to make the purchase that block that payment. It may not allow users from a certain country to enter and detecting the VPN IP does not allow us to enter. This will also be a problem, since we would have to connect to another server or remove the VPN.
Here we can also name the banking entities themselves, as in the first case. Sometimes the programs do not work when we are connected through an IP that is not from Spain. There may be problems and that will mean that we cannot carry out the transaction normally.
In short, as you can see, it is possible that paying online with a card could be a problem if you do it through a VPN. It is a good idea to always use one that is guaranteed, that works correctly and that does not pose a problem rather than a solution.
