Virtual credit card provider, Privacy, is now offering cash-back for online transactions

Virtual cards continue to grow in popularity and now we're starting to see incentives baked in

In a time where we're constantly worried about data breaches and hacks, virtual credit cards continue to find a place in both business applications and consumer ecommerce. Businesses can use virtual cards to manage employees that have spending privileges and can be easily canceled when not needed, but in the consumer space options are a bit more limited.

Privacy is one such company that offers virtual credit cards, and they've streamlined much of the process by utilizing an easy-to-use Google Chrome extension that is tied to your main debit card. Sadly, it only currently works with Visa, but it is still better than nothing. 

Touting that the service has saved users over $150 million in unwanted charges from compromised cards and forgotten subscriptions, the service is now adding a way to reward users for using their virtual cards during online shopping, according to Digital Trends.

While it will not work with PayPal or other money services at this time, users can get between one and five percent back on purchases made online through payment gateways that support Visa. It is a small feature, but in a world where perks are always very welcome, it is a nice touch.

So, how does it work? Privacy will create a random credit card number, security code, and expiration date. You can use any name and billing address for additional privacy and the virtual card is tied to the merchant if you want to continue to use that card. You can also set limits on individual cards and can pause or cancel a card at any time.

As CEO Bo Jiang tells Digital Trends, “It boils down to giving control back to you as the consumer. You can definitely limit subscriptions … you don’t have to worry about data breaches anymore if such-and-such merchant gets hacked.”