- Self-destructible online card offers strengthened security against cyber criminals
- 9% surge in online fraud worth £1.6bn in 2016 alone
App-based international money transfers challenger bank Revolut has unveiled an impressive new feature to protect its customers against widespread online fraud: a virtual debit card which self-destructs after each use.
The feature, the first of its kind to appear in the UK where Revolut is headquartered, generates a disposable virtual card for each online purchase that customers make with the smartphone app.
The concept aims to thwart cyber criminals attempting to steal customer information during money transfers – information that all-too-frequently gets used in future fraudulent online transactions.
Revolut has proven itself extraordinarily innovative, launching a veritable tempest of new initiatives over the last few months alone, including its very own cryptocurrency platform and a location-triggered travel insurance product. Perhaps unsurprisingly given this dynamism, in December it became the first digital bank to break even.
Now it is concentrating its technical expertise on protecting customers from the burgeoning threat of online fraud, which Revolut’s own data shows surged by a thumping 9% across Europe in 2016 alone. That amounts to a swindle totalling £1.6bn for customers, accounting for an alarming 70% of losses.
Revolut’s research reveals that online purchasers in France and Britain were the most savagely hit, accounting for 73% of Europe’s total online fraud.
The new app feature creates a random 16-digit card number attached to each customer’s account. Individuals can use this virtual card whenever they wish to make an online purchase (it permits up to five purchases per day). It’s used in exactly the same way as any long card number when making online purchases.
But the magic comes next: once a transaction has been made using the disposable card, the software can detect it and will auto-destroy the card details, replacing it with a new, randomly generated 16-digit card number.
It’s not suitable, however, for recurring online payments (like subscriptions, for example) because the card details automatically change each time the feature is used. But customers can still use their physical card details for recurring online payments and for any high street transactions.
Customers can access the new feature in their existing smartphone app by opening the ‘Cards’ tab and selecting: “Add new disposable virtual card.”
Only Revolut customers with a £6.99-a-month Premium account can use the card (it isn’t available on the free account).
Customer security has been a priority for Revolut from the outset. Customers already benefit from location-based security, instant card-freezing through the app and the choice of disabling swipe and contactless payments.
The big banks could technically offer similar features but, according to Revolut, they’re too large to act as quickly because of the multiple layers of bureaucracy that come with larger operations.
Acknowledging that fintech firms still have a big task ahead in building customer confidence and trust, Revolut’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Vlad Yatsenko said: “Instead of matching what the larger institutions are doing, we are changing the game entirely by introducing disposable virtual cards and promoting existing features such as location-based security and the capacity to freeze and unfreeze cards.
“It will take approximately 800 years before we begin to run out of 16-digit card numbers, so we view disposable virtual cards as a sustainable, long-term solution to tackling online card fraud. And by automating this process, the customer experience is instant and stress-free.”
