Physical credit cards are some of the most antiquated financial tech we still use—right up there with fax machines. The core design hasn’t meaningfully changed since the 1960s, and it’s built for fraud: no PIN requirement, and the security code is literally printed on the card. In this video, I break down why the “one permanent number everywhere” model is a security nightmare, and what you can do instead if you want more control over your payments. I walk through three levels of better payment security you can start using today. First is tap-to-pay (Apple Pay or Google Wallet), where your real card number isn’t shared with the merchant—your device generates a token for that specific transaction, and you usually have biometrics on top. Second is virtual card numbers from banks (and especially the Apple Card), where you get a separate number and, in some cases, a rotating security code. Third—and where I think the future is headed—is true virtual cards from services like Privacy.com or Klutch, where you can create merchant-locked cards and set spending rules. That way, when a company gets breached, your entire financial life doesn’t go with it.