I discovered today that Capital One allows you to create "virtual cards" in order to retain anonymity when shopping online. I'm not sure how new this feature is, but I definitely plan to use it.

It seems to work essentially the same as other card aliasing services, but it comes free as part of being a member of the bank.

I'm not sure how many different cards you are allowed to create. Maybe there is a limit, in which case one would need to use a different service and pay a monthly premium.

I see this as better than using a 3rd party aliasing service (assuming you already use Capital One), because the bank already knows your details anyway, so you don't need to trust an additional third party with your real card details.

I've never heard of a bank doing this, so I find it quite cool and hope other banks follow suit.

Does anyone else know any other banks that are offering this feature?