We have ‘Uber for this’ and ‘Uber for that’, so why not an ‘Uber for cards’? That’s debit or credit cards!
I came across two startups that promise precisely that. Both Circles (URL registered on June 16, 2019) and UseMyCards’ BuyHatke (URL registered on July 17, 2019) help you use others’ credit or debit cards so that you can avail the offers those cards (that you do not own) are equipped with when you are buying something online!
This is a very clever idea for ‘deals’ loving Indians.
It all seems safe, though. You don’t need to share your card number, expiry date and CVV at all. The process of both services seem similar and easy enough.
What could go wrong, though?
Definitely not the security part – that seems to be taken care of.
But, would banks and card-owning entities approve this? After all, they give cards to people based on their own criteria (to ascertain repayment capability, particularly in case of charge cards like American Express).
Also, would this attract the tax/regulatory officials, assuming a lot of usage of cards that are otherwise not used, on the basis of income vs. spending ratio? Or, could this be used for money laundering? Are there ways to avoid such possibilities, in what is otherwise a really interesting idea?