UK mobile payment technology firm Monitise has been granted a patent for “a new way to enable consumers to shop securely via their mobile or the internet”. The UK patent is for technology that enables a user to shop more securely by using virtual credit or debit card details on their mobile phone rather than sharing data from their actual card such as account number, card expiry date and security code. The virtual card is effectively a prepaid digital voucher which can be set up for a fixed amount of money or for a specified period of time.