Virtual cards are temporary payment numbers that can be generated from the Lydia app. They can be used to pay online safely: for only one or for several purchases.
Lydia virtual cards can be used on every website and app.
Why should I use a Lydia virtual card?
Using a credit or debit card to pay online is risky. Any pirate can record them and use them to debit one's account without them knowing.
To pay online safely, users can use Lydia virtual cards. These are payment numbers you can generate:
- For only one purchase. The virtual card will therefore auto-delete right after the payment.
- For several purchases. You'll be able to delete those payment numbers whenever you want.
Once a virtual card has been deleted, its numbers are totally useless: pirates can no longer use them to debit an account.
However, it will always be possible for the user to be reimbursed by the merchant with whom the transaction was carried out, even if the virtual card has been deleted.
When should I use a Lydia virtual card? 🤷
Virtual cards can be used when...
- you are not 100% certain about a website's security for your purchase
- don't want to risk being debited twice for the same purchase
- want to better organise their expenses, by creating an Internet Card for every online merchant (« Amazon », « FNAC », « Netflix », etc.).
Creating virtual cards 💳
Users can create virtual cards at any time from the Cards menu in the Account tab:
- by hitting the « + » button
- by selecting « Create a virtual card ».
You can create a virtual card that will be valid for a single payment, or for several purchases. Once a virtual card has been created, it can be used right away.
Paying online using virtual cards 💻
Once users are on their app's virtual cards screen, they
- To pay online from a mobile, users can "Copy" their virtual card's numbers and paste them into the online merchant's payment form.
- To pay online from a computer, users can click on "Show" to view the virtual card's numbers and manually type them into the payment form.
If you've chosen to generate a single-use Internet card, the card will be automatically deleted right after the payment. If not, you'll have to delete it manually. A notification will show up on users' mobile to sump up everything there is to know about the payment (amount, date, merchant...).
At any time, users can also modify the Lydia account linked to their virtual card.
Using virtual cards properly 💪
We strongly advise users to create single-use virtual cards for every purchase they make. Hence, users can...
- Create a single-use virtual card for their Amazon purchase
- Use this virtual card's payment numbers when paying
- That's it: the virtual card will automatically be deleted after the payment.
Users can be sure their account will never be debited against their will: payment numbers couldn't be used anymore.
👉 The use of virtual cards is unlimited with a Lydia plan. Want to know more? Discover Lydia+ and Lydia Black+.