Hey everyone, until now I’ve used PayPal for purchasing paid plans across various online services, but now it’s asking for my identity details for KYC verification, which I’m not willing to share. So, I’m looking for alternate ways to pay for my subscriptions.
Paying via credit card is probably the most common payment method, and I can use my credit card as well. However, I’m concerned that my real information linked to the credit card might be visible to data thieves if any service where I shared my credit card details leaks customer payment information, whether accidentally or intentionally.
While keeping international transactions always off and lowering transaction limits can help prevent unauthorized deductions, my real name, address, mobile number, and email address—all linked to my credit card—might still be exposed.
So far, I’ve been very cautious about sharing my information and always avoid services where I don’t get any assurance of safety for my data. Therefore, I don’t intend to share my credit card details for subscription payments.
I’ve explored other options as well but haven’t found any viable solutions. Privacy.com is a solid option for U.S. citizens, but sadly, I’m not one of them. Paywithmoon.com was another good service, but they’ve closed their operations last year. Services that offer prepaid cards and gift cards don’t accept payments from credit cards but do accept crypto as payment. So, Crypto might be the last alternative, but there’s also a significant catch.
Unfortunately, only peer-to-peer crypto transactions are allowed in my region. If I want to proceed with crypto transactions, I’ll have to rely on a third person who sends me the crypto amount in exchange for money. There are many crypto sellers in my country, but paying them could reveal some of my information, like my approximate location when I use a branch transfer. Moreover, they don’t accept physical cash, so I can’t provide a random location for payment.
Very few of my acquaintances use this method to buy crypto, but they don’t use their own accounts to send money to the seller; instead, they use a family member’s or friend’s account, which I believe is entirely unethical. To protect myself, I never want to harm someone else.
Some of you might wonder why I don’t want to share my identity with sellers. The whole process doesn’t seem legal to me, and I also don’t trust these individuals—they receive payments from multiple people and might sell any data they have about buyers for extra profit.
Given the current situation, I would like your opinion on how I can protect my data linked to my credit card. Is my fear of exposing my personal information linked to my credit card totally baseless?
Thanks