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Have you actually tried this? Did it really work? What, exactly did you say, and to whom?
I've tried that with a credit union and a commercial bank, and neither one would do it.

They would happily reverse the charges after I provide a letter saying they were bogus, and they would happily "cancel the account" (or issue a new cc number, if I preferred).
Not sure why they wouldn't block a vendor, but they sure wouldn't. I don't think it's because they aren't willing to help the customer--they were quite willing and helpful with the disputed charges. But they definitely won't block a vendor, even with a certified notarized letter asking them to do so.

Oh, yeah--"cancel the account" is in quotes, because you never really close a ccard account.
Oh, you think you've done it? Maybe you have; I don't know. Go check. Look at your credit report; it's free (unlike freecreditreport.com; don't start).
How many credit card accounts you think you've closed show up as "pays as agreed" or "active"? How many appear as "closed"?
I'll bet the first number is a lot bigger than the second. It's like the mafia. Once you're in, you're in for life.

Not if you use MBNA'a "ShopSafe" credit card service. Please note that I have no vested interest in MBNA whatsoever, except as a happy customer. If you have a regular MBNA credit card, what MBNA does is provide software you can install on your computer that automatically connects up to their credit card "NetAccess" service (you have to log in with name and password each time) and lets you generate "disposable" credit card numbers as needed (much like Spamex.com does with their disposable email address service that I also use :-).

I generate a new credit card number for each and every Internet transaction, and the MBNA ShopSafe software lets me set the maximum amount that can be debited to each disposable credit card number as well as the expiration date (up to one year in the future). The way I handle PayPal is to generate a disposable credit card number with an expiration date of one year and a reasonable credit limit (say $500 for example, or whatever you want). If I were to ever want to rescind my credit card information from PayPal, I do not even have to contact PayPal at all - I just start up the ShopSafe software and tell it to delete the particular disposable credit card number that I provided to PayPal so that no further charges can be charged to that account number. I'm very surprised that as far as I know, MBNA is the only one who provides this type of service, so they have no competition in this area.

As far as successful TN applications go, I am 5 for 7, working as a Systems Analyst for 3 seperate companies. Both times my application was rejected, I was able to have the company mail me a revised letter which was accepted. To me, it seems like the INS workers have started to scrutinize the applications quite a bit more during the past year.

Establishing credit history in the US is crucial, and can be quite frustrating. I've now worked in the US for four years. I've been able to purchase a car, and get an apartment, but I have been unable to obtain a credit card.

A friend of mine recently informed me that MBNA Corporation was able to use his Canadian credit history when he applied for a US credit card.

AmDrEx points to Discover Card.

tswinzig says that American Express works fine.

spaceling points out that you could get an AT&T Universal Card.

inepom01 recommends Chase Manhattan.

An Anonymous Coward says that he uses Providian.

Several folks have also pointed out online banks that they use:

• jimmu: Key Bank
• Anonymous Coward: Washington Trust
• Descartes: 1st Financial Bank
• Anonymous Coward: Fleet Boston
• Anonymous Coward: Bank of America
• mcelrath: UmbrellaBank

Both allow me to use Mozilla/Galeon.

-- Bob

You can find a partial list of banks/cc companies and their Mozilla support here

I only care because I've been following the capitalone.com bug for months with no help whatsoever from them.. Oh well. The MBNA site for my Linux Fund card works fine. I'll be cancelling my capitalone card soon.

For the same reason you like Discover, I like to use my MBNA Mastercard. They have something called Shopsafe which lets me generate a one-time, vendor specific credit card number, with expire times and credit limits that I chose.

Maybe this will finally convince my banks that Mozilla is a real web browser. It's annoying having to switch back to Netscape 4.x to use online banking just because they haven't bothered to test and adjust for Mozilla. And yes, I know what it takes to make a major web site Mozilla compliant. (I was formerly employed by a large rodent. ;-) ).

- Stealth Dave

MBNA, one of the larger banks in the country, has their opt out phone number (toll free 1-866-751-1255) listed on this page. It seems to be a little misleading, you have to opt-out for both internal and external sharing. So stay on the line and do both.

Also, when I found the exploit in MBNA's online credit card application system, it is precisely this information (I also own a .org and a .com domain) they used to contact me and threaten me in several ways.

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