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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

'For your own safety, sir' [SocioPolitico]

CS Monitor has an interesting article about the policy of credit card companies on profiling usage [via Charging the Canvas]. At issue is what happens when you travel with your card. On my last trip, I found in Sydney that a purchase I was making seemed to my card issuer to be suspect, so they declined the card and then telephoned me at home to confirm that the transaction was OK. As you might imagine, this was profoundly inconvenient; I had to complete the purchase with the 'spare' card I carry now for exactly this reason. It seems:

"Your individual spending patterns are learned by the network so that when you make a purchase outside of your spending pattern, a red flag goes up," says David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report, an Oxnard, Calif.-based credit-card research firm.

Ah. So what can I do about that? Unless the software is very smart, every conference I go to will end up looking like fraudulent activity by virtue of being somewhere I have not been before with a pattern of stores I have not used before. My experience of having trouble with my MSDW credit card has been fraught, to the point where I can no longer rely on it when travelling. There is, however, an easy answer. When I call MSDW, I can get this card-declined behaviour prevented. At least, after I have spoken to a sullen scottish girl with her soul seared by having to work in a call centre at the hours I typically have to call to fix this stuff from Australia and been treated with so much suspicion by her that I have to ask for the supervisor (not just once, this happens pretty much every time). This advice rings true:

"Calling ahead is a good idea because it advises your credit-card company to anticipate certain behavior patterns," says Jim Donahue, spokesman for credit-card issuer MBNA.

So it seems I am no longer free to travel without advising my credit card company of my plans in advance. I suppose it fits the pattern - a capitalist police state? "Secure Beneath The Watchful Eyes".

posted at 12:26 PM (UK) | |