Okay, so you're setting up a payment system and you need to punch in a fake credit card number. You can always go with the familiar standby, 4111111111111111, but the truth is any sequence of numbers will work so long as it conforms to the Luhn algorithm (occasionally also referred to as "Mod 10", since it involves modulo operations). If you don't want to work the algorithm out with a paper and pencil, you can just use Credit Card Generator [now available in JavaScript] developed by Graham King. How is any of this interesting? Well, he also provided a page of already generated credit card numbers with predictable, yet hilarious, results. In response, one person offered a foolproof method of getting your hands on a valid credit card number and a CVV2 code.
posted by Deathalicious on Dec 30, 2008 - 28 comments

100 artists from around the world designed credit cards for a Japanese bank and Visa. [more inside]
posted by gman on Nov 28, 2008 - 33 comments

Have we jumped over all the hurdles in our ongoing economic fiasco? Probably not, the next hurdle is Credit Cards. [more inside]
posted by Xurando on Nov 25, 2008 - 99 comments

Mythbusters has been gagged about doing a new episode on the ease of hacking the new rfid enabled credit cards.
posted by DJWeezy on Aug 30, 2008 - 121 comments

50 Fun Facts About Credit Cards. Historical tidbits and interesting explanations of the technology behind that plastic in your pocket.
posted by amyms on Jan 24, 2007 - 21 comments

A double whammy for the U.S. economy this winter: Bankers have announced credit card minimum payments will double starting in early 2006 as a 10-year payback system is adopted. Meanwhile in October comes the controversial bankruptcy reform. All this on a blanket of spiralling gas prices. That Unahome may be the wave of the future for a lot of Americans.
posted by rolypolyman on Aug 21, 2005 - 37 comments

This is not science fiction. It's really happening. (Links to Slate article) Apparently contrary to expectations, Americans seem to be exercising financial sense and paying down their credit card debt. Well, how about that! :) Anyone else here doing this?
posted by zoogleplex on Apr 25, 2005 - 116 comments

The Credit Card Prank Part 2 Not satisified with the results of an earlier experiment, John Hargave kicks it up a notch and tries to get someone, anyone, care about the signature on his credit card receipts.
posted by Robot Johnny on Mar 23, 2005 - 29 comments

Frontline's: Secret History of the Credit Card
Includes alot of useful and less than well known information like "universal default" clauses that allow your credit card company to raise your interest rate when you're late on a payment to another creditor and there's no limit to the late charges a credit company can lay on you as well as no limit on the interest rate they hit you with. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Of particular interest: credit scores explained and an examination of credit responsibility. There are also interviews with lawmakers (including the infamous Bill Janklow). Not sure how well versed you are on credit card info? Take the quiz and find out. (I did badly).
posted by fenriq on Dec 20, 2004 - 21 comments

Identity theft is epidemic.
posted by semmi on Oct 25, 2004 - 17 comments

Hello Little Consumer The popular Hello Kitty brand -- commonly found on stationery, purses, pajamas and other items for children -- will soon start appearing on a new platform: a MasterCard debit card. Target age group: 10 to 14."Freedom! You can use the Hello Kitty Debit MasterCard to shop 'til you drop,"
posted by brian on Oct 3, 2004 - 43 comments

Taste ... priceless Is everything fair game to eventually become a commodity in America?
posted by ElvisJesus on Mar 6, 2004 - 19 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

The Credit Card Prank is a project to see how far one could go with their signature on credit card purchases. The experiment goes pretty far and barely runs into any snags. The verdict? People don't seem to care what you sign on a receipt.
posted by mathowie on Jun 3, 2003 - 72 comments

Poverty is Expensive (part 59) The "i-Gen" prepaid MasterCard, available at a Rite-Aid near you, for those who don't have bank accounts (for debit cards) to say the least of credit ratings sufficient to get credit cards. Pay a $10.00 upfront fee, pay another $5 a month plus a "reload" fee of at least $5 every time your card runs down, all for the privilege of letting them hold on to your cash at no interest.
posted by MattD on Jul 7, 2002 - 28 comments

"Sir, you're diners club card was declined, we can't accept it."

"For the love of GOD, what has the world come to?! You say the credit card slip had the word 'DECLINED' on it? This calls for immediate action, and fortunately since I'm also a leech, er I mean lawyer, I'm going to sue Diners Club ™ over this egregiously evident case of libel!" YES!!!
posted by ( .)(. ) on Jul 5, 2002 - 31 comments

No VC after the dot-com bust? No problem! Just sign up for eight no-annual-fee credit cards with interest rates as low as 1.7 percent (for a few months, anyway), and shazam: You've got $35,000; you're a start-up! Question: Has this guy read a newspaper in, say, the last 18 months?
posted by nathanstack on Jan 14, 2002 - 15 comments

Currently, consumer personal debt is at an all time high, and at the same time we're being inundated with ads asking us to "live richly" and pay for all those "priceless" moments with credit. Credit card companies have maintained a steady stream of advertising that focuses on living in the now, and worrying about the consequences later. Without discounting personal responsibility, should credit card companies be left to advertise their message unfettered, or does anyone think they are too good and perhaps somewhat responsible for the high consumer debt levels?
posted by mathowie on Jun 20, 2001 - 51 comments

If your web site is hosted by ADDR.com, you need to read this MSNBC report immediately. Passwords and credit card numbers appear to have been stolen.
posted by netbros on Apr 2, 2001 - 3 comments

One million credit card numbers stolen! News at 11! The FBI has gone public with a rather dry account of a huge organized attack on ecommerce sites, exploiting security flaws in NT which Microsoft fixed and offered patches for nearly two years ago.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Mar 9, 2001 - 5 comments

The End of Money Interesting article about what money really means in the digital age. "If you want currency backed by something tangible, sign up for 5,000 frequent flier miles on a new Visa card. "
posted by zeoslap on Feb 22, 2001 - 9 comments

A guy paid $5000 to a bank for a list of 4 million credit card numbers, complete with name/address of the owners. He proceeded to start making false charges to those cards totalling some $37 million. He's going to jail. My question is, what the hell was the bank thinking? Why are they selling something like that? Didn't they recognize the potential for abuse? What possible legitimate use could such a list have?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 23, 2001 - 8 comments

Egghead cracked by credit-card hack. Up to 3.7 million credit cards are believed to be stolen from the online retailer's servers.
posted by Hankins on Dec 22, 2000 - 1 comment

AIPAC Hacked, Credit Card numbers exposed. This morning the Web site of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was defaced by Doctor Nuker of the Pakistan Hackerz Club. I didn't think anything of it which was why I missed getting the mirror the first time around. Apparently this is a pretty large organization according to my co-worker, a former Washingtonite. It's the biggest American Jewish lobbying organization in the US from what I hear... which is going to piss people off when they realize their credit card information was leaked in the defacement.
posted by bkdelong on Nov 2, 2000 - 0 comments

Western Union's site is down, as hackers have accessed their "secure" database. Western Union's only suggestion so far is to tell all customers to cancel their credit card accounts. Is anything really secure on the internet? Do you trust amazon to hold your credit card numbers, Wells Fargo to keep your checking account private, and Kozmo employees not to pilfer your credit card numbers for fun?
posted by mathowie on Sep 10, 2000 - 8 comments

Let's rope 'em in while they're still young.
posted by 120degrees on Aug 16, 2000 - 10 comments