Cancel cards and cut ’em up
The bookkeeper’s voice on the phone was crisp and efficient: “I’m sorry, but your credit card has been declined. We can’t fill your order. If you have any questions, please call Visa.”
I was embarrassed, irritated — and scared. The message reminded me that nowadays, instead of wondering whether my credit card payment got there or if I was over my limit, I have to worry about hackers stealing my identity and destroying my legal and financial life.
Visa’s concerns mirror mine: The 24/7 global threat posed by computer thieves makes using a credit card a nerve-wracking exercise for all of us, especially when another major computer break-in was recently announced by a transaction processor.
I may never know if I’m among 40 million Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other charge card holders whose personal data may have been stolen from CardSystems Solutions’ computer files (at least 200,000 records were known to have been stolen). Maybe I won’t find out until I get stopped by a traffic cop or try to renew my driver’s license and find out that someone with my name has robbed a convenience store in Virginia.
I’ve already been a credit card fraud victim. A decade ago, when my husband used our American Express card to rent a car, we discovered a $4,000 charge on our next bill for 18 airline tickets between Mexico and Texas, all ordered within 35 seconds. It took two years and $300 in legal fees to get American Express to stop charging us interest for the fraud.
Despite tough regulations, good intentions and industry-wide oversight, the swipe of a magnetized strip makes us all potential victims if our personal data falls into the wrong hands.
CardSystems Solutions’ CEO John M. Perry told The New York Times that the 200,000 records were known to have been stolen from a file being saved for “research” that should have just been deleted from their system. The records should not have been retained because Visa and MasterCard rules require all credit cardholder information be erased after a transaction.
Perry’s assurance that the mistake has been fixed doesn’t help CardSystems Solutions’ victims, who must cope with exposed bank accounts, tax records, Social Security numbers, driver’s license data and credit ratings. Even if the FBI tracks down the thieves, the damage to individual cardholders is done.
The first time I ever paid with plastic I used my father’s Diner’s Club card. I was 19, embarking on my first solo vacation. “Take your girlfriends out to dinner and use this to pay for it,” Dad said, handing me his credit card. I still remember the feeling of authority I had when I laid that card atop the bill presented by the waiter on a silver tray. “Wow!” I remember thinking. “Is that all there is to it?”
I haven’t been out of debt since.
I know I’m supposed to constantly check my bills, receipts and statements to make sure they’re accurate, but I don’t. I still prefer checks to credit cards, just because the extra time it takes to write them gives me a chance to change my mind about spending.
But even my neighborhood grocery store is switching over to all-plastic money. Last week, when I handed my check to the clerk, she frowned and asked, “Don’t you have a credit card?” When I said no, she grumbled, “This is the last time,” and stuffed the check through a machine that instantly debited my bank account.
Credit cards make consumer spending so easy, no wonder merchants and banks want to eliminate all other payments. Every time I use my card for building materials the supplier tacks on a 2 percent “processing fee,” which I call free money. Online, an impulse becomes an instant purchase by typing in a few numbers and hitting “send.”
My New Year’s resolution was to be out of credit card debt by Dec. 31. I intend to make it. From then on, it’s cash and carry.
(Tad Bartimus is a veteran reporter and syndicated columnist. She can be contacted by mail at: Tad c/o The Women Syndicate, P.O. Box 10169, Columbia, Mo., 65205.)