> Deleting a virtual card is tremendously easier than revoking my primary credit card number and updating all the vendors that are using it. It's quite easy to use a virtual card once and then delete it immediately.
Still harder and not as secure as a digital signature.
> Furthermore, I'm not worried about a virtual card being exposed to unauthorized charges, because (unlike in cryptocurrency-land) chargebacks exist.
You're not guaranteed to perform a chargeback successfully. And both vendors and customers (like you) are paying for that "service".
Chargebacks are also one of the reasons for why there is large-scale credit card fraud. And it is also why vendors are incentivized to collect personal information from you (to detect fraud before chargeback happens, for which they are greatly penalized) and why they are also incentivized to refuse service to legitimate customers in many cases (due to flagging legitimate transactions as suspicious).
Worse, when they refuse service they cannot even tell you why (as that would help fraudsters).
> You're not guaranteed to perform a chargeback successfully.
Even in the worst case, because a credit card is an abstraction over my bank account, I have the option to refuse to pay and won't lose my shirt or otherwise become despondent. In the meantime, chargebacks are a feature of the system, not a bug. To wit, cryptocurrency advocates are the last people who should go around lecturing others about fraud. :P
> Even in the worst case, because a credit card is an abstraction over my bank account, I have the option to refuse to pay and won't lose my shirt or otherwise become despondent.
That may also have unintended consequences for victims of credit card insecurity.
> To wit, cryptocurrency advocates are the last people who should go around lecturing others about fraud. :P
Why not? Cryptocurrency advocates know a lot more about it than most people (for good and bad reasons).
Still harder and not as secure as a digital signature.
> Furthermore, I'm not worried about a virtual card being exposed to unauthorized charges, because (unlike in cryptocurrency-land) chargebacks exist.
You're not guaranteed to perform a chargeback successfully. And both vendors and customers (like you) are paying for that "service".
Chargebacks are also one of the reasons for why there is large-scale credit card fraud. And it is also why vendors are incentivized to collect personal information from you (to detect fraud before chargeback happens, for which they are greatly penalized) and why they are also incentivized to refuse service to legitimate customers in many cases (due to flagging legitimate transactions as suspicious).
Worse, when they refuse service they cannot even tell you why (as that would help fraudsters).