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Some banks will let you generate single-use credit card numbers (e.g., Chase). So you have one CC # for the power company, a different one for Netflix, and so f
by qeorge 14y ago
Some banks will let you generate single-use credit card numbers (e.g., Chase). So you have one CC # for the power company, a different one for Netflix, and so forth. Then if e.g., Netflix gets hacked you can just cancel that one card number. You can also generate cards with hard spending limits, cards that only work for a specific merchant, etc. And of course you can delete them anytime. Its a pretty good system.
That said, I agree with the author. Signature based debit should have long since been replaced by something more secure (e.g., Chip and PIN), yet its much higher fee structure creates a perverse incentive to maintain its use.
- kzrdude 14y agoIsn't it pretty easy to envision a system that puts the control directly with the user? The reseller requests an amount due, you punch that in into your credit card device, following it up with a pin code and you can now verify that payment.. But I don't think anyone wants to give customers this wallet-like capability..
- mikeash 14y agoI had one of these for a while. I used them any time I bought from an online merchant I wasn't completely confident of. It let me put a specific purchase limit on each number, so I knew I couldn't be overcharged. Then one day one of those slimy Brooklyn camera stores overcharged me by $10, even though I specifically put in a limit equal to the purchase price. I called the bank and asked what happened, and they said that they always add a pad on top of the limit because people often forget about shipping charges, etc. Sigh.
- rogerbinns 14y agoThere are issues with chip and pin, one of the major ones being it puts the onus of proof of fraud on the consumer. Hey, your card couldn't possibly have been used if you didn't type in the PIN or give it to someone else so you are liable. This sort of thing reared its ugly head last decade in the UK with phantom ATM withdrawals. The banks claimed the consumers must have made the transactions as PINs are required and banks are perfectly secure. It turned out that the banks weren't as secure as claimed. (Search for [ross anderson phantom withdrawals] for more details as well as attacks on chip and pin systems.)