A novel idea to improve online purchases

There are still a lot of people who are hesitant about using their credit cards to make online purchases. Let's face it, there are some risks and when you don't know who you're doing business with at the other ends of a transaction, it can get a little scary.

Citibank has instituted an idea that I hope catches on with other credit card companies - the virtual account number. A Citibank card holder receives a temporary virtual account number. This number is different for each purchase - you only use it once, but is recognized as legitimate by Citibank during a transaction. Retailers don't even know that the number is different from the customer's actual card number. It's a great idea because there is no way a person could use it more than once. In the ultimate scenario, you find something you want to buy, log into Citibank, get your virtual account number, buy your item - done. The number lasted a grand total of minutes.