11 Credit Cards With Disposable Numbers (Dec. 2023)

If you prioritize cybersecurity (and you should!), this review of 15 credit cards with disposable numbers should soothe some of your concerns. Disposable (or virtual) card numbers are designed to frustrate the efforts of hackers and shady merchants because any credit card information they steal will be of little or no use.

Read on to see how five different credit card issuers implement their disposable card number strategies, followed by descriptions of their top-rated cards.

Capital One | Discover | Chase | Citi | Amex

Eno generates an instant card number upon request to stand in for your actual credit card number, thereby guarding you against hacking and fraud when you shop online. Capital One Bank provides its free Eno browser extension to its cardmembers to help keep their credit cards more secure.

Eno supports virtual credit card number generation for our three top-rated Capital One cards reviewed below. It can generate an instant card number right at the checkout page, without any extra effort on your behalf.

You start by installing the Eno extension into your browser. When you’re ready to check out, Eno pops up and allows you to sign in, after which it generates a merchant-specific virtual credit card number tied to your credit card account. Eno saves the virtual number for your future in-store and online purchase activity with the merchant and lists the online purchase transactions separately on your credit card statement.

Discover cards implement virtual card numbers through any of several compatible digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. A digital wallet is an app for your tablet, smartphone, wearable, and other devices, letting you check out purchases online or in-store without your physical card.

All Discover credit cards, including the three reviewed below, provide digital wallet integration to protect your card’s account number.

A digital wallet uses tokens to substitute for account numbers whenever you use it to make a purchase. This prevents merchants and online hackers from stealing your real card information, either individually or through a massive data breach.

Chase recently decommissioned its Chase Pay digital wallet, but you can still use eligible Chase credit cards with several wallets, including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung pay. These digital wallets substitute one-use tokens for your account number when you make purchases online or in-store.

Our top-three Chase cards reviewed below all work with eligible digital wallets.

You can add your card directly to a digital wallet or through the Chase mobile app. For instance, to directly add a Chase card to your Google digital wallet, you snap a picture of the card or enter the details manually.

A select group of Citi credit cards support disposable account numbers in two ways. You can enroll your eligible card to create virtual account numbers for online and mail-order purchases. Alternatively, you register an eligible Citi credit card with a digital wallet such as Apple Pay, PayPal (PayPal key required) Samsung Pay, or Google Pay to generate disposable tokens for online or in-store purchases.

You can enroll select Citi cards, including the two featured below, to use disposable account numbers. The credit card company generates virtual account numbers, making it almost impossible for a hacker to steal your real account number through individual targeting or via a large data breach.

The virtual credit card number feature uses randomly generated account numbers to substitute for your real account number. Purchases made this way appear separately on your monthly credit card statements along with the virtual account numbers used.

American Express has three separate paths to virtual numbers. Amex virtual card numbers can be used without the physical credit card for online checkouts displaying the Click to Pay icon, or you can use your Amex card in the popular wallets that substitute tokens for account numbers.

The following three top-rated American Express cards can be used for purchases with disposable account numbers. Participating digital wallets include Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

Corporate Amex cards can also get virtual account numbers through American Express Global Business Travel, where clients can make use of Virtual Payment Expert and Conferma Pay to generate disposable account numbers instantly.

A disposable, or virtual, credit card number is a temporary account number or token used for either a single transaction or for a single merchant.

You can generate disposable credit card numbers using an online service from the issuer or through a digital wallet. Although the technology enabling virtual card numbers generated by a credit card company differs from that for digital wallets, the effect is the same: To limit circulation of your real account number and reduce your exposure to hacking and theft.

Digital wallets do not share your real account number with merchants. A cardholder can use digital wallets to make in-store purchases at participating merchant locations. Some apps support digital wallets for in-app purchases, and many online sites offer a digital wallet option when checking out without a physical card.

By the way, some debit card issuers also provide virtual card numbers to protect your bank account data, including the checking account number.

In addition, some prepaid card issuers offer virtual card numbers. One such prepaid card issuer is Netspend. We are not aware of any virtual card number features for gift card transactions.

First, understand that almost all credit cards can generate virtual account numbers — the only prerequisite is that the card must be compatible with one or more digital wallets. The wallet sends merchants a token instead of a real account number, making your transactions more secure and convenient.

If you would rather use a temporary credit card number supplied by the card issuer, your choices are more limited. Citi and Capital One Bank generate a temporary credit card number on demand for select cards, but this approach requires more steps than are required for a digital wallet.

Some co-branded cards, including those from Amazon.com, Apple, Target, and Walmart, support virtual card numbers as well. If you are a cardholder of any of these, check the procedures for generating a virtual card number.

Only Citi and Capital One offer free virtual account numbers upon cardholder request.

To obtain a virtual account number, Citi customers must log onto their account and find the Virtual Account Numbers feature. Upon request, the feature will generate a virtual account number, expiration date, spending limit, and three-digit CVV/CVC.

You can use the temporary virtual account number as often as you wish and can replace it with another one at any time. Simply provide the virtual number wherever you would use your actual credit card number when making a payment online, in-app, through the mail, or over the phone. Your real credit card number is part of the transaction.

Eno from Capital One generates merchant-specific virtual credit card numbers. You can lock and unlock the virtual account number at any time. Access to Eno is available through online banking, via the Eno web-browser extension, and through the Capital One Bank mobile apps.

We’ll go out on a limb to say that it’s pretty safe to enter credit card numbers online. However, online shopping with a credit card can be dangerous if you inadvertently do business with a shady merchant or are attacked by a hacker.

Here are steps you can take to reduce the risk considerably:

1. Privacy: Shop on a private device away from prying eyes. The last place you want to shop from is a communal computer available to the public. Hackers may have placed malware on the computer to harvest credit card account numbers and passwords. If you don’t already have one, load a virtual private network tool onto your devices and use it whenever you log into an unsecured WiFi network.
2. Links: Do not click on links embedded in an email, even if they appear to come from a trusted source. The links could represent a phishing attack attempting to steal your credit card information and other data. Instead, go to the sender’s website and continue from there. If you are shopping online, look for a lock symbol just before the site’s URL displayed in your browser. This ensures the identity of a remote computer and proves your identity to a remote computer.
3. Payments: Whenever possible, use your digital wallet instead of your real credit card number when you check out online, in-store, or in-app. This will ensure you use a one-time token of little value to fraudulent merchants and hackers. If you use a Citi or Capital One credit card, you can obtain merchant-specific virtual account numbers from the issuer online that will limit your exposure to credit card fraud, even if the website doesn’t accept digital wallets.
4. Authentication: Two-factor authentication requires you to respond to a message or email before you can access your credit card account online. This prevents thieves who’ve stolen your account details from getting into your account. Always use unique passwords for each account and don’t reuse those passwords elsewhere. Also, most credit cards will let you request account alerts for online purchases, allowing you to immediately spot unauthorized use of your credit card.
5. Maintenance: Use strong passwords and change them regularly. Make sure your browser, apps, and malware protection software are up to date. Review your credit card statements for any activity you don’t recognize. Consider using personal financial software, such as Quicken and Moneydance.

No one is 100% safe from all cyber threats, but following these five steps can minimize your exposure to online risks.

You can increase your security against credit card fraud and hacks by using credit cards with disposable numbers. Citi and Capital One offer virtual card numbers on demand, while almost all credit cards can work with digital wallets to provide disposable account numbers.

It’s a risky world out there, but virtual account numbers can make it a little safer.