My plan right now is to use it for parking by text/app. I just don’t trust that the vendors have proper security, which is why I asked the original question.
I did do a Privacy.com test purchase with an retail vendor online, and it worked very smoothly.
I’m not sure about using Privacy.com for larger purchases, or ones that might involve a refund – I’m not sure how refunds work with virtual cards. I know that when I worked retail, if someone paid with a Visa-type gift card (which is often disposed of when done), there was no way to issue a refund to those type of cards. Can a vendor refund to a virtual card?
I first became aware of Privacy in Republic’s old Community thanks to fellow former Ambassador @happywillow0. I ended up incorporating Privacy into a blog post for Republic’s old Community as one option for paying for Republic service when one lacked or did not wish to use their credit or debit card. Those of us who were Republic Experts would see requests for alternative payment methods fairly frequently.
Personally, I’ve found Privacy to be especially useful when signing up for subscription services. Often, subscription services require a payment method even for a free trial, which one then has to remember to cancel to avoid being charged. With Privacy, I just limit the card, so that it cannot be charged unless I actually wish to use the subscription service beyond a free trial. An opt out becomes an opt in. This is not something I can easily do with standard credit or debit cards.
Given @mwgardiner’s experience, I’m monitoring my Privacy account more closely but until and unless there are hiccups I’ll continue using Privacy where it makes sense for me to do so.
I wish you luck with that. I finally heard back from them. They claim to have sent me an e-mail. A single attempt at contact via a channel known for occasional failures doe not strike me as very bright. Multiple notices over a few weeks or push notices via the app would have made more sense.
I have sent the two pieces of information they wanted to close my account.
I hope that your choice does not result in you developing dental imprints on your gluteals.
As of now, I’m not particularly concerned. I’ve been using Privacy for six years. To date, my experience has been flawless. And, as noted by @NancyM, reviews on Trustpilot for Privacy are positive:
There’s been a bit of an uptick in 1-star reviews over the past year, so combined with your experience, I’ll watch my account more closely:
I’m not attempting to minimize anyone’s experience, however, each of us has our own experience. A case in point, in other topics, you mention a positive experience with Mint. My personal experience with Mint was not so positive, so I wouldn’t suggest Mint to someone else but I don’t explicitly suggest others stay away either. To each their own.
For comparison’s sake, Mint’s reviews on Trustpilot are average:
Over the last year, Mint’s 1-star reviews are significantly higher than Privacy’s and their 5-star reviews are significantly lower:
To some extent, Mint is a victim of their own success. Scaling service and support is challenging with growth. Your experience with Privacy may be an early warning sign of a similar phenomenon with Privacy. Time will tell…
