Anonymous payment methods – Pay online anonymously
The trinity of online payments – safety, convenience and availability. To have safe payments, regulators and merchants require a lot of payment and personal information. However, there are safe payment methods that don’t require the full breadth of details. There are no anonymous transactions, but there are “anonymous” payment methods that make it hard to be traced back. At the very least, the payment will not be disclosed on your bank statement.
What payment methods can be anonymous?
The financial services industry is heavily regulated, which doesn’t allow for any room for anonymity. However, not all payment providers require, track and collect the same information.
There are three general types of payment methods based on the information they require to process transactions.
| Not sharing any information | Sharing information with payment provider | Sharing information with payment provider and merchant |
|---|---|---|
| Prepaid vouchers (eVoucher) | E-wallets | Cards |
| Online banking | Virtual cards | |
| Crypto |
The only type of payment methods that don’t require any type of information are prepaid vouchers. E-wallets, online banking, crypto exchanges and card providers all require some sort of personal information and some of them go the extra mile and do a full KYC (Know Your Customer) check.
Here are all the details for every category.
Vouchers like CashtoCode eVoucher
It’s safe, easy to use and you’re not sharing any information with the merchant. All you need to do is buy a prepaid voucher from an eVoucher reseller. You can purchase eVoucher with Canadian dollars using a card, crypto, e-wallets or online banking. The eVoucher resellers are quite flexible.
Unfortunately, due to how transactions are processed in general and how eVoucher works, you can’t receive money. It is a prepaid voucher system meaning there is no wallet where you can store money.
Another disadvantage is the partner lineup. It’s still a growing portfolio consisting of online casinos, a crypto platform and a few software services.
Cards
The biggest advantage of debit and credit cards is the wide availability. Most people have one and literally all businesses accept card online payments.In addition, it’s easy and straightforward to use – provide the card details, provide the personal details and the transaction is complete.
However, paying online with cards exposes you to privacy issues, identity theft and card fraud. You are sharing so much information that the merchant can track you down easily. Moreover, since you need to provide all details that are on the card, card fraud is a common occurrence.
A nuanced issue is the exposure to recurring charges. There are so many services that simply ask you if you want to stop the subscription – and you’ve forgotten about it, potentially used it for a limited time. These services try only once or twice to notify you that the subscription will be extended.
Virtual cards
Virtual cards are like regular cards, but you don’t have a plastic card, rather just a virtual representation of one. Some payment providers allow users to create a virtual card to complete a one time or multiple transactions. The goal is to prevent revealing too much information with the merchant. Once the transaction is processed, you can then just block, freeze or remove the virtual card.
The drawbacks of using a virtual card are somewhat labour intensive. You need to set a virtual card up. These cards, due to higher margins and lower customer base come with higher-than-average fees.
If you are to receive money, you can’t do it via virtual card. You also can’t use the card to verify your identity where a KYC is required. The virtual card can only be used for sending money in a safer way than with a regular card.
E-wallets
E-wallets are the absolute leaders when it comes to making flexible payments online and receiving money. If you have a verified e-wallet account, there’s nothing between you and making online payments and receiving money.
Over the last two decades they’ve evolved offering a more convenient experience. Privacy protection has also improved, but due to legal regulation, you must provide all of your personal details to the payment provider.
The fees associated with e-wallets are high. This is why big businesses prefer online banking as over time the fees add up to a sizeable amount. If you plan to pay online frequently or to receive money, it’s best you look for other options than e-wallets. Also, the fees take many forms ranging from the usual transaction fee to maintenance fee, inactivity fees, currency conversion fees and additional card fees if you decide to get one for easy ATM withdrawals.
Note: you can pay without an account with PayPal, but you are still charged a hefty fee for the service.
Online banking
The driving force behind online businesses is online banking. Most transactions are processed via online banking. It’s safe, versatile – you can do anything you can imagine with move of funds.
You are sharing only limited information with the merchant, but you have to go through a KYC procedure with the bank.
Canadians have access to a few local very popular online banking providers including Interac, both e-Transfer and Online, and you can also use INSTADEBIT.
If you don’t see any problems using them because of privacy, we recommend you sign up with them.
Crypto
In its early days, crypto payments were the pinnacle of anonymoyus payments. Crypto payments are widely accepted in certain niches, like gambling and the adult entertainment industry. It’s rather convenient but requires setting up. Only a small percentage of people are comfortable enough to use crypto as a method of payment online. You need to buy the crypto, have a crypto wallet, and you also must pay attention how you use it.
The transactions are almost instant and you are not sharing any information with the merchant, aside from a confirmation that the payment is complete. This is the beauty of the blockchain technology.
If you need a payment method for retail purchases, such as Amazon, eBay or any other online shop, chances are you won’t find crypto adequate. Lastly, since crypto exchanges are tightly regulated nowadays, once you reach the threshold, you must go through a KYC as you would if you are using e-wallets.
Pros and cons of anonymous payments online
You should be looking for an anonymous payment method only if you are concerned with your privacy or you simply don’t want to disclose any information that can be easily tracked back to you. All transactions can be tracked, however, the effort required increases as you disclose less information. In short, if you don’t want it on your bank statement, look for an anonymous payment method.
Based on the analysis of all types of payment methods above, anonymous payment methods are not widely accepted. Businesses see no point in integrating them. However, the businesses that see a noticeable increase in users because of them are basically living from them.
The “anonymity” comes at a price – the fees are slightly above the average you’d pay for a regular online payment.
Not only you can’t receive money with anonymous online payment methods, but the transactions processed via them are completely irreversible. Other payment methods support refunds, but they are not as convenient as user would want them to be. PayPal is the only one with a user-friendly refund feature.
Receiving anonymous payments
With the regulation of crypto platforms, all anonymous payments came to an end. Nowadays, unless it’s some unregulated crypto exchange that might potentially take advantage of you, you can’t receive money anonymously. Cash is so far the only method of payment that’s completely anonymous.
Why are anonymous payment methods better?
Anonymous payment methods are better because you can use them and forget about them. No transaction can come back to you, at least not without the involvement of the authorities. Nobody can steal your identity or your steal valuable payment information. Your money is safe as long as you’re using it with a verified and reliable business.
The fees are limited and you have complete control over them. Prepaid vouchers, once you purchase them, you don’t have to pay attention to the small print for any fees.
In short:
- Fees are predictable
- No payment information is shared
- No personal information is shared
- No exposure to recurring charges.
Prepaid vouchers for easy anonymous online payments
If for whatever reason you want to make online payments without revealing too much about yourself prepaid vouchers are the only recommended payment method. Our payment solution eVoucher provides you with everything you need to make discreet online payments without sharing any information about yourself with the merchant or with eVoucher. All you need is an email and one of the payment methods accepted by the resellers.
FAQs
The closest thing to anonymous online payments is using prepaid vouchers. You don’t need to provide any information that can be easily traced back to you. In addition, the transactions made with the merchants are not disclosed on your bank statement, but the prepaid voucher purchase is.
The best anonymous online payment methods are prepaid vouchers, such as the CashtoCode eVoucher. It is an online payment solution that requires little to no information to complete transactions thanks to its closed loop system.
Almost any prepaid voucher enables you to pay discreetly online. Aside from your email address, you don’t need to provide any other information. We recommend using eVoucher as you can get it different denominations, you can pay up to $1,500 combining up to six vouchers. This is more than enough for most casual transactions.
No, receiving anonymous payments is not possible nowadays. The last time anonymous payouts were a thing was before crypto exchanges were regulated. We advise against using unregulated crypto exchanges which do not conduct KYC to their members.
If you want to pay online anonymously, you can’t do it with a card. If your only concern is your card or payment information, we recommend setting up a virtual card. This way, you can process your transaction and freeze the card so nobody can get access to your money.
