The State Bank of India (SBI) has introduced a virtual debit card called State Bank Virtual to address the users’ concern about debit card fraud while doing ecommerce transactions. The electronic card can be created by the account holder or customer using SBI's Net banking facility for ecommerce transactions. State Bank Virtual has a limited shelf life and can be used for only one transaction to limit the exposure of the account.

It allows the user to create a virtual card for any online transaction and the person is not required to share details of the principal account on the merchant Website thus insulating the account from any possible fraud.

There is no charge on creation of the card and the customer can create any number of cards at the same time. The card is created for each online transaction and is valid for maximum of 48 hours. There is no transfer of balance from the principal account in as much as only a lien is marked on the account. Actual transfer of balance takes place only when the customer does the actual transaction online, SBI said.

"All forms of transactions, be it Internet banking, credit and debit cards, are fully secured but there are some people who are scared and hold back from online transactions on fears of compromise of data. The main objective behind this new product is to provide relief to these customers and give a push to e-commerce," Richhpal Singh, DGM, Payment Systems, SBI has said in a statement.

"Some of our Internet banking customers are not comfortable with e-commerce transactions. But now, they will have no problem. Apart from this, there are some Websites which are still considered unsafe and a virtual debit card comes in handy in dealing with such Websites," Singh added.