Not every problem needs to have a technology solution. In this case, the non-technology solution is to pass the fraud cost to the merchants (through fee) who in

Not every problem needs to have a technology solution. In this case, the non-technology solution is to pass the fraud cost to the merchants (through fee) who in turn pass it to you (consumer). There is nothing wrong with it as long as everyone in the chain accepts it. Now, of course as a consumer you might feel bad about it but the penalty you pay for CC fraud is tiny. So you probably don't care because in exchange you get the convenience of using a credit card. The industry is actually doing a lot of work to minimize the fraud and keep it under control. But there is absolutely correct understanding that it will never go down to 0. Even if you deploy super-modern PKI solution, you still have to deal with fraud like "didn't get an item", etc. Thus the benefits of not having a credit card number are not that significant in the big picture. While inconvenience and complexities are pretty high.