Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Viewing credit card bills online
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 10:02:27 -0400
This has worried me a lot also. That info is just too easy to come by Dave
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:14:16 -0400 From: David Rosensweig <dlrosens () seas upenn edu> To: farber () cis upenn edu Subject: Viewing credit card bills online Prof. Farber, I thought I'd bring to your attentino something I haven't seen discussed and thought might be of interest to your IP readers: the lax registration process for services that allow you to view your credit card statements online. I recently registered for online bill-viewing service for my MBNA Visa card at www.mbnanetaccess.com. I also registered my American Express card on their site. What worries me is the small amount of information they requested. For each site, all I needed to register as a first-time user was my credit number, my name as it appears on the card, all or part of my social security number, and my date of birth. For MBNA it also asks for my phone number and mother's maiden name. By asking for such little information it makes the registration easier and simpler. I was able to view my accounts in under a minute as a new-user. But the information these sites request is so easy obtain -- any clerk in a store could look at my credit number, and the other personal info is easily available. If I had never registered for this service, I might never know if someone else had registered under my name and wreaked havoc with my account. I remember in earlier days of online bill paying and even web-based services like this for my bank, I had to request a username/password and they sent it to me via snail mail. While it was more inconvenient, it was a bit safer than today's system. Until better a personal identication token system is established, I'd prefer to wait for my password in the mail. Best, David
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- IP: Viewing credit card bills online Dave Farber (Apr 27)