If you are alluding to the fact that so many don't even have internet access(and in some cases access to a decent library) in some parts of the world then yes I agree somewhat with you here.

Agreed, but if they were limited run and reloadable(like most such cards should be) it would be more acceptable/reasonable imo.

(As for plastic waste...at least most of it can be recycled or reused[I reuse MANY such containers for other purposes at home]....unlike those cruddy new shopping bags which afaik cannot be recycled and need to be used a ton of times to offset their carbon cost/etc)

Interestingly, I've run into this recently; It doesn't seem to do it for sites I've online-ordered from before but when I do one I haven't done a thing pops up telling me it will send an SMS to me for 2FA, except it only has a land-line number which I don't even use.

It's a bit of a pain in the butt as I don't know how to change the number to add an actual in-use line or my mobile. I even tried changing it in the online banking thing but still tries to use my landline.

Bizarrely, if I use a debit card from the same bank, I don't have any of these problems, and you'd think they'd want to secure a debit card more since if someone rips off your debit card you're basically shafted, whereas with a credit card you can get your money back much easier...