Not long after Blippy.com released several users’ credit card numbers on its purchase tracking website, I feared the worst. I wondered if users who post their spending habits are naïve and reveal too much about their purchases. Then, it came to me–investigate how Blippy.com postings compared to the five most-extravagant plastic purchases of all time:
#5: [...]
Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some very active discussion over decisions by credit card issuers to reduce credit limits, increase interest rates, increase minimum payments, close unused accounts, and add new fees. To provide some context for these discussions, I thought that it would be worth taking a closer look at an example [...]
I recently received an e-mail touting a 20% off sale on credit scores via myFico.com. While the “Credit Crisis” name borders on fear-mongering, there are times when you need to know your credit score. If you’re in such a situation, you can order FICO Credit Complete and get credit reports plus FICO scores from all [...]
Here’s a quick rundown of things that merchants cannot require when it comes to credit cards:
They cannot require you to provide personal information (phone number, driver’s license number, etc.)
They cannot require you to present an ID.
They cannot require a minimum charge (though many do).
They cannot charge extra for using a credit card. Credit card companies [...]
I wrote the other day about the safety of RFID-based, “contactless” credit cards. In that piece, I cited another article that made a variety of claims about the security of these cards, including the fact that your data is encrypted prior to transmission.
As a followup, I just wanted to point out a NY Times article [...]
A common misconception out there is that business credit cards can only be held by “real” businesses. Guess what? That’s not the case at all.
Who can apply for business credit cards?
As it turns out, anyone can apply (and be approved) for one. You don’t have to have own an “official” business at all. When filling [...]
I recently ran across an article talking about the advantages of “contactless” credit cards that transmit your account information via Radio-Frequency IDentication (RFID). While a lot of people are concerned about their account information being stolen from cards with embedded RFID chips, it seems that there are a number of security measures in place.
Here’s what [...]
While most of what you’ll find here is information related to plain old, run-of-the-mill credit cards, I thought I’d take a bit of time to write about “secured” credit cards. A secured credit card is a special type of card that is targeted at high-risk borrowers with low credit scores.
How secured credit cards work
Secured credit [...]
As a followup to my earlier article about merchants being unable to require a minimum purchase for credit card transactions…
Did you know that merchants can’t require you to show an ID in order to complete a transaction?
According to a recent Q&A in the Baltimore Sun:
Although Visa rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder [...]
The short answer is that no, merchants cannot require a minimum purchase before accepting your credit card as payment. In fact, all major card issuers explicitly forbid this practice, as follows.
From Visa’s merchant contract:
Dollar Minimums and Maximums – Always honor valid Visa cards, in your acceptance category, regardless of the dollar amount of the purchase. [...]
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