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Linux Friendly One-Time Credit Card Providers?
PoochieReds writes "My credit card company has just introduced some pretty foul new rules (shortening grace periods, raising fees, etc.), so I've started shopping around for a new one. I use this card for most of my purchases and pay off my balance at the end of each month. One thing that my old CC company had was the ability to use one-time CC numbers. This was really handy for Internet and over the phone purchases, and I like the safety it provides. The downside was that this co. used a flash-based app for this feature. Does anyone have recommendations of a CC company that can provide one-time CC numbers via a regular browser-based web form?"
How exactly can you throw "Linux-Friendly" into the question when this is really a Flash problem. I hate flash as much as most people but really you should do your own research, i.e. call some banks and ask about their online banking. I know my bank, UMB, does use a form-based system. I am sure it is not terribly hard to find a bank that does not have a flash interface, it just seems that every ask-slashdotter has no idea how to use a phone book.
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance, that's why we might as well take our time...
As for the one-time use numbers, how do they offer you any protection? You're only liable for $50 if your card is fraudulently used.
Thank you for illustrating well the tragedy of the commons. One-time use CC numbers help reduce fraud. Fraudulent charges, while not directly charged to the account of the defrauded customer, will eventually be paid for by consumers. Whether it be by higher prices from the merchant or by higher interest rates and fees on the part of CC companies, the entity that absorbs the cost of the fraudulent purchase will pass that cost on to the consumer.
So yeah, one-time use CC numbers won't help an individual all that much, but widespread adoption could benefit everyone. There's more perspectives to this world than just simple self interest.
Thank you for illustrating well the tragedy of the commons. One-time use CC numbers help reduce fraud. Fraudulent charges, while not directly charged to the account of the defrauded customer, will eventually be paid for by consumers. Whether it be by higher prices from the merchant or by higher interest rates and fees on the part of CC companies, the entity that absorbs the cost of the fraudulent purchase will pass that cost on to the consumer.
I disagree that this is a tragedy of the commons situation. In this case, althought it's true that the cardholders as a group ultimately pay for the fraud, it's also true that the cardholders as a group ultimately pay for whatever technology is used to limit the fraud. Further, the card issuers and merchant acquirers do see the fraud as a negative item on their balance sheets, and when it gets large enough to justify spending money on more technology to limit the fraud, they do so, whether that be one-time numbers, microprocessors in cards, cardholder photos in cards or whatever. They do it because the fraud reduction is pure profit for them, at least until all their competitors are doing it, too, at which point the savings start to be passed on to cardholders.
The merchants are part of this equation as well, since deploying technology to accept new, more secure, forms of payment costs them money, but also saves them money in terms of reduced fraud.
"Tragedy of the Commons", on the other hand, describes a situation where it is in everyone's best individual interest to behave "badly". In this case, the banks and merchants both have direct fiscal incentives to implement technology to reduce fraud, and these incentives are actually *strengthened* by the fact that cardholders can safely assume that whoever foots the bill it won't be them... not directly, anyway.
In short, don't worry about it, use what is convenient to you. It's the job of the banks and the retailers to manage fraud, and they are actually quite good at it.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
All those little things you mention (calling to dispute the bill, getting a new number, etc.) are a real hassle and take time and effort which could be devoted either to billable hours or fun instead of dealing with credit card bureaucrats. And it can be a real problem if your account is hacked/stolen right when you really need to use it. Suppose you're on vacation in Europe, go to pay for your rental car, and find out that your credit limit is maxed out. Do you really want to deal with that on vacation? Plus, of course, if a lot of people used one-time numbers, there would be a lot less credit card fraud, which in the end would mean lower rates for all credit card users. So I hardly consider this a "marketing tool" only. If my card company offered it, I assure you I would use it regularly.