4 ms·

Dont you think users with malintent abuse the platform irrespective of whether a card is on file or not?

by indus 5y ago

kevincox 5y ago
Credit cards act as a "cost" of sorts. Credit cards are a limited resource, it is not free to acquire more credit cards. By requiring a valid credit card you are basically relying upon the verification that credit card issuers do to prevent unlimited abuse.
- inetknght 5y ago
  > Credit cards are a limited resource > it is not free to acquire more credit cards If a user is malicious then they quite probably have access to malicious cards too. Moreover, you're locking out users who don't want to give you their card just to try a service.
  - tshaddox 5y ago
    There are probably a lot more casual trolls than there are straight up criminals with stolen credit card numbers.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  Its not free to acquire credit cards? In what country? I constantly get free offers on the mails, plus there are services to generate temporary card numbers for throwaway
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    bad actors are usually looking for low friction, it’s like running away from a bear… you don’t need to be the fastest person, you just don’t want to be the slowest
  - function_seven 5y ago
    You're probably not going to go through the hassle of generating or applying for 1,000 credit cards in order to abuse some trial period on a SaaS service. Maybe you do it a few times. It's the automated bots that a CC prevents. Even with "free" credit cards or generated numbers, there's a lot of friction in going through that to abuse the service's trial period.
- Msw242 5y ago
  Virtual cards solve this. Create a card with $1 limit. Problem solved.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    In one country but this isn't an option globally
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
encoderer 5y ago
Malintent exists on a spectrum and in my experience operating SaaS, a credit card is indeed a good filter for users who have no intention of ever paying you.
micromacrofoot 5y ago
in my experience it’s an order of magnitude less frequent when a credit card is required

Dont you think users with malintent abuse the platform irrespective of whether a card is on file or not?

by indus 5y ago

Dont you think users with malintent abuse the platform irrespective of whether a card is on file or not?

Credit cards act as a "cost" of sorts. Credit cards are a limited resource, it is not free to acquire more credit cards. By requiring a valid credit card you are basically relying upon the verification that credit card issuers do to prevent unlimited abuse.

inetknght 5y ago
> Credit cards are a limited resource > it is not free to acquire more credit cards If a user is malicious then they quite probably have access to malicious cards too. Moreover, you're locking out users who don't want to give you their card just to try a service.
- tshaddox 5y ago
  There are probably a lot more casual trolls than there are straight up criminals with stolen credit card numbers.
netizen-936824 5y ago
Its not free to acquire credit cards? In what country? I constantly get free offers on the mails, plus there are services to generate temporary card numbers for throwaway
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  bad actors are usually looking for low friction, it’s like running away from a bear… you don’t need to be the fastest person, you just don’t want to be the slowest
- function_seven 5y ago
  You're probably not going to go through the hassle of generating or applying for 1,000 credit cards in order to abuse some trial period on a SaaS service. Maybe you do it a few times. It's the automated bots that a CC prevents. Even with "free" credit cards or generated numbers, there's a lot of friction in going through that to abuse the service's trial period.
Msw242 5y ago
Virtual cards solve this. Create a card with $1 limit. Problem solved.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  In one country but this isn't an option globally
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

encoderer 5y ago

Malintent exists on a spectrum and in my experience operating SaaS, a credit card is indeed a good filter for users who have no intention of ever paying you.

micromacrofoot 5y ago

in my experience it’s an order of magnitude less frequent when a credit card is required