I use PayPal to be the middle man to protect my credit card information when I purchase items online.
Of course I have grown less fond of PayPal and their scammy behavior (plus the password limit is 20, wtf?)
My question; is there an alternative to paypal to buy things online (without crypto as not all stores take such things), such as privacy.com (but for Europe).
Correct mw if im wrong, but I believe privacy.com is for US, Canada region.
My bank doesn’t offer virtual credit cards sadly.
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Was going to say monero but you excluded crypto which is your best shot.
@Wolfie Completely seconding the Revolut suggestion here. For privacy protection, works perfectly!
privacy protection with a service that’s only accessible through an ownership controlling, datamining-filled smartphone app? it was just a joke, right?
if they do this on your phone, what are they doing with your transaction data…
@ReversalHatchery I want to respectfully say that I find your answer a bit agressive in tone. I was just trying to give my best shot at an answer, even if I am not a privacy expert, as OP was really just asking for a way to conceal his Credit Card Number, or that’s what I understood.
I agree that total privacy will not be accomplished without using a custom rom and more private applications, but I feel like, for the average user, that might be too much work
IIRC, they block 3rd Android ROMs (eg GrapheneOS) using Google’s Safety net service verification.
If you got crypto Bitrefill provides gift cards.
Bitrefill, CakePay and CoinsBee are plateform where you can sell crypto for gift cards and thus use them to pay online stuff in many places that don’t accept crypto. You can also use them physically if needed.
And you can also buy virtual debit cards With crypto
Been looking for such an alternative too, that works in Europe
https://privacy.com/ for US https://www.revolut.com/ for EU?
Revolut exploits their job applicants: https://www.eldiario.es/economia/millennial-aspirantes-trabajar-capten-clientes-revolut_1_1880446.html
Revolut was recently in the news for stopping working on degoogled OSes. And judging by the comments, it is very app-dependent.
Looks like we are doomed to use PayPal in Europe. What’s the hurdle to create a PayPal alternative?
The hurdle is that Europe tends to adopt things that are successful in the US, because it is convenient. Even most services and startups based in Europe are more or less copies of US products, with some notable exceptions of highly specialised applications. This unfortunate trend started in the 1970s, when the largest industrial players in Europe thought semiconductors were just a fad and consequently lost their competitive edge. It was seen as less risky to invest in commercially proven concepts than to actually innovate. This continues to bite us in the ass to this day.
I still hope GNU taler will be more widely used. It’s basically everything you are looking for.
GNU Taler
That looks cool but the issue would be getting merchants to implement it
Yes I think that’s the biggest issue and currently also the focus of a project called NGI Taler. Let’s see what comes out. Fingers crossed as this would be great for everyone.