Paypal Virtual Debit Cards

I have to say that I like the concept of the PayPal Plugin. (While in Beta, this was formerly called the PayPal Virtual Debit Card.) This tool allows you to create a one-time or a one-site Debit Card for shopping on-line. The one-site feature is particularly nice because it allows for recurring charges, but still protects from fraud as the charges can come from only one website.

While playing with the beta version of this a few months back, I found that there was no ability to recall the virtual card numbers that had been created. I used a PayPal virtual card order software from a website. When I went to check on the status of my order, the site asked for the last four-digits of my credit card and I could not give it to them without contacting PayPal customer service. Thankfully, PayPal has fixed this in the public release of the PayPal Plugin.

One feature that I feel is still missing from the Paypal Plugin is the ability to apply a limit. While it is nice to be able to shop without exposing my really credit card info, it is a bit tough that I cannot also establish a limit on the charges that can be applied to the virtual card that I have created. This might be the downside of PayPal having a vested interest in the amount that is charged to the card. This "vested interest" being that credit cards fees are charged as a percentage of the sale.

As a whole, I find that the PayPal Plugin is a useful tool. I will be interested to see what they do to improve upon it in the coming months.

Bank Cards

I went to my bank recently, opened a new account and got a new a Debit Card from the bank.

While I was at the bank, I mentioned to the Customer Service person that this was the third debit card that I had from their bank. The Customer Service person then asked, "How do you tell your debt cards apart?"

You see, they are all exactly alike. They feature the bank's logo on a blue background. The only thing different on each is the account number listed on the card. The last thing that I need to try to remember is more numbers, so I try to keep each card in its own place in my wallet.

Now, I could consolidate my debt cards by interlinking my accounts and just carrying one card. This would be great for withdrawing cash and making deposits via the ATM. The problem is that it would be bad for using the debit card against the individual accounts.

It turns out that when you assign multiple accounts to a debit card, one of the checking accounts becomes the primary account. When you make a debit card purchase, the money comes out of the primary account. If you want to be able to use the debit card against checking accounts #2 and #3, you are stuck carrying multiple debit cards.

Back to my conversation with Customer Service.

I asked "Why don't you offer cards in colors? Charge me like $5 extra and give me a debt card that has your logo on top a card colored in my choice of one color. You could offer a half dozen color choices". The Customer Service person seemed to think that this was a decent idea.

I would like for this to become a reality, though I probably will not see it in the near future.