[gowld]

virtual card #s is a great system, why did it rot?

I assume it's because the whole industry prefers data-brokering your purchase history, joined on credit-card # to establish identity.

[Karunamon]

That's one good reason, another is probably pushback from merchants. Having these virtual cards completely shuts down the "free-trial-we-hope-you'll-forget-and-let-us-ding-you-for-a-month-or-two" business model that's so popular for online services.

[pbhjpbhj]

Not sure you need merchant pushback there - if it leads to unexpected charges then it's more likely to lead to inability to pay, or short payment, which gives the credit card companies their chance to feed off the client.

[kiriakasis]

Also usability, most people just don't care enough. (which is reasonable often)

[mook]

Wouldn't the bank still know your full purchase history (since they know what numbers are tied to you)? So they'd in fact get a leg up on the competition, who get a more distorted view?

[mbreese]

But they don’t get the invoices of what you bought, just the total payment amount.

[woolvalley]

Unless they work with an analytics system that mastercard, visa & amex participate in to link card numbers to invoices for better advertising & affiliate data.

I know FB & Google purchase something like that from one or two credit card companies, so I wouldn't be surprised if merchants were in to it too.