Writer: Eric Bank
Editor: Lillian Guevara-Castro
Reviewer: Ashley Fricker
Disclosure: When you apply through links on our site, we may earn a referral fee from our partners. For more, see our ad disclosure and review policy.
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
Capital One Cards With Disposable Numbers
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.
- Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 18.49% - 28.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
- Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 18.49% - 28.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
- Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
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 With Disposable Numbers
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.
- INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. You could turn $150 cash back into $300.
- Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places you shop each quarter like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- Redeem cash back for any amount. No annual fee.
- Get a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. Then 17.49% to 26.49% Standard Variable Purchase APR applies, based on credit worthiness.
- Terms and conditions apply.
- UNLIMITED BONUS: Unlimited mile-for-mile match for all new cardmembers. Discover gives you an unlimited match of all the miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a mile-for-mile match. You could turn 35,000 miles into 70,000 miles.
- Automatically earn unlimited 1.5x miles on every dollar of every purchase
- No annual fee.
- Turn miles into cash. Or redeem as a statement credit for your travel purchases like airfare, hotels, rideshares, gas stations, restaurants, and more.
- 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. Then 17.49% to 26.49% Standard Variable Purchase APR will apply.
- Terms and conditions apply.
- INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards.
- Earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. You'll still earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- Get a 0% intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers. Then 17.49% to 26.49% Standard Variable APR applies, based on credit worthiness.
- Redeem cash back for any amount
- No annual fee.
- Terms and conditions apply.
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 Cards With Disposable Numbers
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.
- Intro Offer: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
- Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
- Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 18.99% - 28.49%.
- No annual fee – You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
- Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
- Member FDIC
Additional Disclosure: Non-Monetized. The information related to Chase Freedom Unlimited® was collected by CardRates and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardRates does not receive commission for this product.
- Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!
- 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 19.24% - 27.99%.
- No annual fee - You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Flex℠ card
- Keep tabs on your credit health - Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, real-time alerts, and more.
Additional Disclosure: Non-Monetized. The information related to Chase Freedom Flex℠ was collected by CardRates and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardRates does not receive commission for this product.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
Additional Disclosure: Non-Monetized. The information related to Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card was collected by CardRates and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardRates does not receive commission for this product.
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.
Citi Cards With Disposable Numbers
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.
- Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 17.49% - 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
- There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
Additional Disclosure: Citi is a CardRates advertiser.
- Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
- Earn 10 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com.
- Earn 3 Points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations.
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- $100 Annual Hotel Benefit: Once per calendar year, enjoy $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when booked through CitiTravel.com. Benefit applied instantly at time of booking.
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases
Additional Disclosure: Citi is a CardRates advertiser.
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 Cards With Disposable Numbers
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.
- Earn 175,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new card to make $8,000 in purchases in your first 6 months of Card Membership
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points for flights booked directly through airlines or American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year. Also earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com.
- $600 annual hotel credit, $200 annual airline fee credit, $200 per year Uber cash credit, $300 per year digital entertainment credit, and more.
- Platinum Card Members have unlimited complimentary access to all locations of The Global Lounge Collection®, including 1,550 airport lounges.
- Apply with Confidence: Know if you're approved for this Card with no credit score impact
- Fee Credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck®, CLEAR® Plus Membership
- Earn as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 6 months of card membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
- Earn 4X Points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases. Also earn 4X Points at restaurants on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, 5X points on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com or Amex Travel App™, 3X points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com or Amex Travel App™ or directly through airlines, and 2X points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or Amex Travel App™ and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
- No foreign transaction fees
- $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at participating partners. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
- Take advantage of a $100 credit towards eligible charges at over 1,300 upscale hotels worldwide every time you book The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or Amex Travel App™
- $325 Annual Fee
- Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of card membership
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com, 1.5X points on business categories and purchases of $5,000 or more on up to $2 million per calendar year, and 1X point for each dollar you spend on other purchases.
- Get up to $400 back per year toward U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies, up to $360 back per year for purchases with Indeed, and $120 back per year for wireless telephone service purchases on the Business Platinum Card, plus additional credits. Enrollment is required for all.
- Access to more than 1,400 lounges across 140 countries and counting with the American Express Global Lounge Collection®
- Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments, are charged by the airline to your Business Platinum Card® Account.
- $695 Annual Fee
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.
What is a Disposable Credit Card Number?
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.
Virtual card numbers protect cardholders from fraudulent transactions.
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.
Where Can I Get a Virtual Credit Card?
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.
Which Banks Offer Virtual Account Numbers?
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.
Citi and Capital One are the only issuers that offer free virtual account numbers by request.
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.
Is Entering Credit Card Numbers Online Safe?
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Credit Cards With Disposable Numbers Provide an Added Layer of Security
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.
Advertiser Disclosure
CardRates.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation for referrals for many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across CardRates.com (including, for example, the order in which they appear). CardRates.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.
Editorial Note: Our site content is not provided or commissioned by any credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed on CardRates.com are the author's alone, not those of any credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by credit card issuers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information; however, all credit card offer details, including information about rewards, signup bonuses, introductory offers, and other terms and conditions, is presented without warranty. Clicking on any offer on CardRates.com will direct you to the issuer's website, where you can review the current terms and conditions of the offer.
About the Author
![Credit Card Reconsideration: Phone Numbers, Tips & Options[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2017/12/recon.jpg?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "Credit Card Reconsideration: Phone Numbers, Tips & Options[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")
![How to Get Card Numbers Online Now[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2018/06/number--1.png?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "How to Get Card Numbers Online Now[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")
![How Many Credit Cards Should I Have for Good Credit?[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2018/07/howmany.png?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "How Many Credit Cards Should I Have for Good Credit?[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")
![7 Best Credit Cards For Building Credit[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2021/02/Best-Credit-Cards-For-Building-Credit.jpg?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "7 Best Credit Cards For Building Credit[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")
![9 Credit Repair Credit Cards[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2021/11/Credit-Repair-Credit-Cards.jpg?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "9 Credit Repair Credit Cards[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")
![3 Credit Cards For Kids & Ways to Help Them Build Credit[updated_month_year before=" (" after=")"]](https://www.cardrates.com/images/uploads/2022/03/Credit-Cards-For-Kids.jpg?width=158&height=120&fit=crop "3 Credit Cards For Kids & Ways to Help Them Build Credit[updated_month_year before=\" (\" after=\")\"]")