A payment card comprises an internal virtual account number generator and
a user display for online transactions. Offline transactions with
merchant card readers are enabled by a magnetic array positioned behind
the card's magnetic stripe on the back. The internal virtual account
number generator is able to program the magnetic bits encoded in the
magnetic stripe to reflect the latest virtual account number. The
internal virtual account number generator produces a sequence of virtual
numbers that can be predicted and approved by the issuing bank. Once a
number is used, it is discarded and put on an exclusion list.