How to keep your credit card information safe online
17th of November, 2015

Undoubtedly, a common concern when Internet users think of their online privacy is credit card and banking information. With the onset of the digital age came online shopping, addressing concerns of time constraints, supply and demand, and customer travel requirements. However, with the solutions to these problems come new challenges, the foremost being the security of our finances.
Although there are a variety of valuable credit card tips and tricks we could relay to you (ensuring a SSL Certificate is active and present, avoiding public WiFi, etc.), this really isn’t the reason you’ve come here. No no––you’ve come here for an answer: a concrete plan for keeping your credit card information safe online. And for us, that plan must include masked cards. If you are interested in hearing more about keeping your bank information secure, take a look at these 5 tips posted on Privacy Snapper.
Masked Cards From Abine
Unsure what masked cards are and how they work? Take a look at this one minute video from Abine on masked cards:
With masked credit cards, users are able to securely store their credit card information with Abine. When you require your credit card to complete a purchase, Abine’s Blur tool will generate random credit card information to populate the required form. In this way, users can feel secure that the purchasing information being sent over the Internet isn’t their own. In addition, Abine allows limits to charges that can be set on your cards, preventing hidden or unknown charges. More information on the nuts and bolts of setting up your masked cards can be found in four steps by Abine, available here.
Aside from masking cards, Blur also provides a host of other features, which contribute to our belief that it’s a powerful privacy tool. In addition to credit cards, Blur manages and masks your passwords, emails, and phone, and has tracker blocking. Although some of these features are available in Blur’s free software, others (including credit card masking) can only be found in Blur Premium, which starts at $2.20 per month.
As said before, there are numerous tips and tricks that users can implement to secure their finances when shopping online. But with the increased use of the Internet as a shopping platform, the robust ability of hackers today, and an increased number of credit card breach occurrences, masked cards are one of the best ways to ensure that your credit card information remains secure. Need additional convincing? Check out Forbes’ article, Why You Should Use Masked Cards When Shopping Online, for another perspective.

About Ryan Jeethan
Ryan is a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Arts & Business program focusing on UW’s unique Speech Communication program.