How To Get A Free Virtual Credit Card

I know lot of people that are hesitant to use their Credit Cards online due to the fear of fraud and misuse by hackers. Few of them would like to use a Credit Card but may not have one due to the income streams applied for getting a card. Some bank such as Bank Of Baroda offers Credit Cards without fulfilling basic salary limit but then you need to have a fixed deposit with them. Apart from that they would also ask for submitting final income proof. But then I recently came to know about HDFC Bank ForexPlus Card, when I called up customer care people to know whether I could use this card as a prepaid one they said they are doubtful about it. In addition, customer care person suggested to me use HDFC Bank NetSafe, although I was aware of the service I never tried the same but this time I wanted to.

I was excited to try this service and got registered with as the process; once the process was over I registered my HDFC Bank EasyShop Visa Debit Card with them and created a Virtual Credit Card. I could not believe it actually worked! Then the curiosity augmented and I wanted to test this card. So for the first time I tested the card to purchase a domain name from Netfirms and it worked! That was truly amazing and the process went on without any hassle and all you required doing is that set the card limit which is very important to make a purchase. Say for example, you need to buy stuffs worth 50$ then set the limit at a premium to current forex rates it’s an approximately about 3.5% extra. But I really suggest you to set the forex rate as Rs. 50/USD 1.

When NetSafe was newly launched it was accepting only Visa Debit and Credit Cards, however they now have MasterCard too. Not only that, it works amazingly for people that already use credit card for shopping. I feel it is an extremely good out if you are using cards online, why I say this is because when you buy some stuff online with your Credit Card using the foreign sites stores your credit card info in their database. For example, you buy a stuff online which has a recurring fee, then they would continue charging year on year or month on month without your permission. Yes, you could claim it back but then it a pain and you would certainly loose some % of your money in it as Forex Charges. Conversely, if you use NetSafe card it is a one time card only that simply means if you use this Virtual Credit Cards once it will not work next the company try charging you.

This is important – If you try using HDFC NetSafe card on some merchant it may not work. I have discovered two reasons for this:

1. If the merchant’s Credit Card processing is very powerful then they probably know that you are using a Virtual Credit Card and hence they will reject your card.

2. Credit Limit could be a problem with some site. For example, if you are need to buy things wroth $5 and you create a NetSafe card worth Rs. 250, but still the merchant’s Credit Card processing fails. This is because they are using a system which charges say $10 initially just to test your card and to make sure your card it a valid one. So in that case you need to set higher credit limits.

Google AdWords is the best example I could share with you. They charge only Rs. 60 as setup fee but you need to create a NetSafe card with a limit of Rs. 300 for signup else they will decline your card!

Steps to Get a Free Virtual Credit Card:

It is very easy to obtain a Free Virtual Credit Card via HDFC NetSafe card. Just go to HDFC Bank and open a savings bank account with them. It must be a regular savings account as you would be eligible to get a Visa Debit Card. Going with Visa Debit Card is a good option as it works with almost all online merchants. And then you need to pay annual fee of Rs. 100 plus the tax for the debit card/annum. That’s the only charge to maintain this amazing service. Make sure you maintain the minimum average quarterly balance of Rs. 5000 or Rs. 2500 for semi urban.

There is no other additional charge for using HDFC Bank NetSafe or HDFC Bank Regular Savings account, it is totally free, however the bank charges 3.5% of transaction amount, which is applicable for all banks and all cards – be it debit card, credit cards or virtual credit cards. It can make your life simpler as it is universal acceptance – there are no fees for using and creating NetSafe.

NetSafe, is a unique online payment solution that offers you complete security while shopping on the Internet. With NetSafe, you can now shop online through a virtual credit card, without revealing your actual HDFC Bank Credit Card number. What’s more, you can now use your HDFC Bank Debit Card also for online purchases.

The key benefits of NetSafe are as follows:

1. Your HDFC Bank credit / debit card number is never used on the merchant website

2. The NetSafe card you create is a one time use card

3. You can set your own limit for the NetSafe cards you generate

4. You can use it on any merchant website that accepts VISA/MasterCard cards

5. All purchases you make with NetSafe Cards will appear on your statement, just like any other transaction.

6. Registration for NetSafe is a onetime process after which you can generate NetSafe Cards anytime, anywhere.

The NetSafe Card is a virtual card that is generated through the NetSafe offering and can be used for shopping on the Internet. The NetSafe Card can be generated by logging onto the HDFC Bank website and can be used at any online shopping website that accepts VISA/MasterCard cards. Every NetSafe Card can be used for a single transaction only.

If you are using debit card, then your per day limit to generate virtual cards is 5 subject to your daily point of sale. This is possible only if there is sufficient balance in your current or savings account. If you are using credit card then is purely upon the credit limit available on your card. All purchases you make with NetSafe Cards would come with your statement, just like any other transaction. If there is any amount that you did not use it from NetSafe card it would be credited bank to your corresponding accounts. Any risk disclosure on NetSafe card is restricted to the chosen limit. So get registered with HDFC NetSafe and enjoy the secure online transaction now!

Source(s): HDFC Bank, HDFC Bank NetSafe Demo, HDFC Bank NetSafe FAQ