[andrewdietrich]

Absolutely, virtual cards have been around for years. But we've researched the space extensively and did not find a product we like or could use consistently. So we built Final. Some of the better products out there exist for customers outside of the US.

[otoburb]

>Some of the better products out there exist for customers outside of the US.

Would appreciate if you could give some examples for non-US customers, at least for another point of comparison.

[bobcostas55]

In Sweden I can do this...you launch a desktop or phone app, tell it what limit you want on the card and when you want it to expire, and it gives you a number w/ CVC code that you can use instantly.

[negrit]

Same in France. The US is just behind.

[JetSpiegel]

Portugal has MBnet, with a web interface and an Android app, as I recall. It works as advertised.

[icebraining]

I can attest. It supports both "one shot" cards as well as multi-use (with a time limit, up to one year), both with a limit on how much they can be charged.

That said, I don't think it has an Android app, just a mobile website. The app that shows in Google Play is just a shortcut to the website (built by an unaffiliated developer).

And of course, it doesn't even any of the notification stuff, it's just a gateway to your regular bank account. Nor does it have physical cards.

[JetSpiegel]

Yeah, I mistook it for the Caixadirecta app, it's a different thing.

MBnet is made by SIBS, the same entity that controls all the ATM.

[dcustodio]

yes, MBnet is awesome. but sometimes some sites don't accept it (when they test the card doing some transactions first), I wonder if Final will have the same issues.

[lm2s]

That used to happen but I haven't experienced that in a while. Even before the introduction of multi usage virtual cards.

[riffraff]

intesa/sanpaolo/bci/cib/whatever (has a ton of brands in europe) has virtual cards with time-based expiration (at most 12 months) or single use.

I am reasonably sure ING and unicredit did that too some years ago.

[danellis]

I've thought about the feasibility of such a service for a long time, but I always figured you'd run out of numbers. If there are nine digits available (16 - 6 - 1), that's 1,000,000,000. If you have, say, 100,000 customers, that's 10,000 per customer, which would quickly get used up if they're using one per transaction.

[dangero]

Couldn't you reuse a disposable number given some time interval?

[danellis]

I don't know enough about how it all works, but perhaps -- because the number isn't valid on its own -- giving the number to a different customer, with a different name, effectively invalidates its previous use and means it can be safely reused.

[andyjohnson0]

Some information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_payment_number

[riquito]

As an european I'd like to know which are the best product (until you open your business) :-P