A US Senate Committee just released its report on online loyalty programs. Combined, Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue have made $1.4 billion in the past ten years charging customers $10-$20/month for marketing program memberships. Unfortunately, many of their customers (4 million this year) have no memory of authorizing the charges. [more inside]
posted by Nelson on Nov 18, 2009 - 26 comments

"Payments processor Heartland Payment Systems has learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008. Heartland believes the intrusion is contained." [more inside]
posted by Class Goat on Jan 20, 2009 - 33 comments

If you've bought anything at a Hannaford or a Sweetbay store in the last three months and paid with your credit or debit card, you could be in trouble. Between December 7 and March 10, someone tapped into their credit card authorization datastream. The blackhat stole 4.2 million credit card numbers. Some of those have already seen illicit activity. The Hannaford corporation apologizes for the inconvenience.
posted by Class Goat on Mar 17, 2008 - 27 comments

The guy over at Make Your Nut is facing a dilemma I've wondered about myself: what to do about the security risks that are inherent in the many RFID-chipped credit and ATM cards that banks are so keen on issuing today? There's a lot of evidence out there that indicates that the highly personal information these cards (and the new US passports as well) carry can be stripped away by a thief with a little motivation and access to relatively low-cost equipment. You can go with the nifty RFID-blocking wallets (discussed here previously), or, according to some, you could just grab a hammer.
posted by shiu mai baby on Apr 30, 2007 - 26 comments

How can a credit card company fool you? Let me count the ways. When Brad Kehn received his first credit card from Capital One Financial in 2004, it took him only three months to exceed its $300 credit limit and get socked with a $35 over-limit fee. But what surprised the Plankinton, S.D., resident more was that Cap One then offered him another card, even though he was over the limit -- and then another and another.
posted by storybored on Dec 10, 2006 - 104 comments

Geek tracks down identity thieves via luck and persistence. What should you do?
posted by roue on May 29, 2006 - 26 comments

Michael Jackson's Credit Card. In which a band of pranksters manage to successfully imitate the King of Pop for one night.
posted by Joey Michaels on Apr 4, 2006 - 22 comments

The Torn-Up Credit Card Application. Can you get a credit card with a torn-up application? One citizen puts in the minimal effort to find out.
posted by Joey Michaels on Mar 12, 2006 - 49 comments

The Shitty Tipper Database. Ever undertip, for whatever reason? Did you use a credit card? You could be famous! Or infamous. (via)
posted by frykitty on Jul 25, 2005 - 200 comments

A Senate bill to overhaul federal bankruptcy laws, a top priority of retailers, auto lenders and banks, cleared a key hurdle Tuesday afternoon. Sixty-nine senators -- nine more than needed -- voted for "cloture," a procedural move that limits debate. Republican leaders hope to push the bill to a final vote by the end of the week. Earlier, the Senate turned back a controversial, abortion-related amendment that has scuttled previous efforts to pass bankruptcy legislation. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was first introduced in 1998 as The Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act.
posted by airguitar on Mar 8, 2005 - 63 comments

Testing the limits of credit card receipt signatures. Are there any?
posted by DBAPaul on Jan 14, 2005 - 62 comments

Dispelling Some Myths About Credit Cards. In case you missed this post (via Kuro5hin), as this is an excellent explanation of how to stay debt free and things you need to know about owning a credit card. As a first time card holder, I found this post to be really, really useful. Anybody have any bad credit card stories?
posted by Keyser Soze on Aug 22, 2003 - 45 comments

I'll take the Ronald Reagan and JonBenet Ramsey velvet paintings please. Do you accept John Wayne Gacy Discover Cards?
posted by MrBaliHai on Jul 13, 2003 - 8 comments

What does the Bush Administration want for Christmas this year? An extension to the Nation's Credit Card limit.

"Currently, national debt subject to the $6.4 trillion debt limit stands at $6.3 trillion"
"...warning that it may hit the current limit on the federal debt by late February."

Merry Christmas USA!
posted by CrazyJub on Dec 24, 2002 - 13 comments

Pentagon busily ruining the credit ratings of service personnel. "Hapless" military personnel are ordered to use a government-issued credit card for travel expenses, then submit for reimbursement. But the reimbursements (and even paychecks) frequently come late, making the soldier unable to pay the credit card bill -- thus branding them as "delinquents", "credit risks" and even causing their wages to be garnished.

"U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have found themselves stranded in the desert without a dime because their credit was suddenly cut off, according to a May 29 report in the Military Times, leaving families behind in a nasty Catch-22: Swallow the debt, or borrow more money to pay the bills so their credit wouldn't be ruined."

It truly gives one the warm fuzzies to see that our government and military leaders give our service personnel the respect they deserve.
posted by chuq on Aug 20, 2002 - 48 comments

Visa in Financial Trouble... Can't buy a clue
This takes the cake. Visa is announcing a new Animated Logo with a press release. This animated logo (with sound!) will be played when ever someone makes a wireless purchase with their visa, alerting everyone within earshot of what you are doing. In addition to the animated logo they are staking claim to the newest buzz word to make executives sound stupid: U-commerce.
[via camworld]
posted by DragonBoy on Jan 3, 2001 - 16 comments

'Jesus Christ! How much is that new DVD player? Ok, just put it on my VISA card'
posted by mathowie on Oct 15, 1999 - 1 comment