Disposable Credit Card Numbers
from the increased-privacy dept
American Express is planning on launching a disposable credit card concept. The idea is that each time you purchase something off the web, you can get a unique credit card number off a secure web page which will be good for that one purchase only – thus protecting you against fraud. It’s an interesting idea, though I’m not exactly sure how well it would work. Will people be willing to use that extra step to protect themselves against fraud? Also, what does all this mean for Amazon’s patented one-click concept?
Comments on “Disposable Credit Card Numbers”
How does it work?
disposable numbers… prevent fraud how? Say I steal your credit card number and ID, I just have to go thru a few more hoops now. I’m not sure I understand how credit card theft works in the first place, so I’m not sure how a ‘disposable’ card prevents the theft. What changes? Is the AMEX web site somehow *much* more secure? How? And is it more annoying b/c it’s more secure? It sounds like a good idea, but implementation sounds fishy….
Re: How does it work?
Oh wait. I think I get it. This just prevents online stores from collection information about you and invading your privacy. Ahhh. But don’t they still have to know how to ship stuff to you? And if you can’t trust a store (online or not) to protect your privacy, don’t you want to discourage the store, not encourage more convoluted transactions? I mean, no one should have to set up a Swiss bank account in order to buy stuff… Still sounds like a dumb idea.