As you might know I try out a lot of subscriptions. In last two months I have been written about a few subscription services like get basic, fabfitfun, degustabox, and stitchfix…and I have tried out many more! Unfortunately, not all subscription boxes are created equally, so I often don’t want to give away my actual credit card numbers. This is where Virtual Account Numbers (VAN) comes into play.

What is Virtual Account Number?

Virtual Account Numbers (VAN) are instantly generated temporary credit card numbers that are meant for online purchases. They are supposed to be safer because their expiration date and $ limit can be set prior to their creation.

Best Virtual Account Number Provider?

Citi, Bank of American, and Capital One are the three major banks offering VAN. I personally prefer Citi because

• they’ve a cool retro VAN desktop app that only requires my login info and
• my Citi AT&T Access More card often earns 3x Thank You points on various internet purchases

Citi allows a card holder to set a minimum month of VAN validity to 2 months. Citi also  allows a card holder to restrict $ limit to as low as $1.

The Citi VAN app feels like it was made in 90s and was never changed. I really like that the app stays on top of every other app because this allows me to easily type out my card info into whatever form I am filling.

Why Virtual Account Numbers?

Not all services (and subscriptions) are created equally. The quality of customer service, honesty, billing date, etc all varies vastly from one subscription to another. I often use VAN

• to purchase subscriptions that has poor reviews
• to try out a subscription before committing to it with a real credit card number
• to not get billed for second month. It is often better to have a subscription cancelled because a biller cannot bill your credit card than to continue to get a subscription because billing date snuck on you.
• to not get charged more than what I think I agreed to pay at checkout page.  I often set a my VAN’s credit limit at a dollar higher than what it costs for 1st month and if a sub is trying to sneak more than that…well they can’t.

I have heard that sometimes billers can get through your VAN regardless of the credit limit you set on your VAN. Hence, it is always a good idea to pay attention at your bill and also to cancel unwanted sub before they bill you again.

When not to use Virtual Account Numbers?

You should obviously not use VAN on anything that requires a physical card or any form of human interaction. For example you probably don’t want to use it for an item you will pickup at a store nor do you want to use it for item you may have to return/refund in store.