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Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

privacy.com

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Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#301

Post by boling11 »

zgubi wrote: post #291

@boling11, why does privacy.com need access to my online banking on an ongoing basis, after the initial signup is finished? I have changed my online banking password after signing up successfully, and I received an email complaining that "Our connection to your bank is broken". I can understand the need for initially providing my banking credentials for AML/KYC reasons, but I feel uncomfortable with your company cont…

We don't actually store your credentials. We work with Plaid.com, and take a token which we can use to pull balance information. This allows us to fund a transaction in real time and take on the risk of ACH. When you change your credentials, that token gets reset.

If we took routing / account numbers, you'd have to preload your account and wait up to 3 business days. It's something we're definitely looking into though as well though.

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#304

Post by plugnburn »

In Ukraine, Fidobank offers "Shtuka" (Штука, translated as "piece" or in jargon "thousand") debit cards that are attached to MoneXY account that is in turn attached to mobile number only. And since prepaid cellular service is mostly anonymous here, you can actually have as many anonymous accounts as you can for about 60 UAH (a bit more than 2 USD) each. And still these are physical MasterCards you can put into your pocket, accepted at any supermarket and also suitable for online transactions.

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#305

Post by unicornporn »

soneca wrote: post #89

Is that something that new? My bank (Itaú, in Brazil) offers this option for some time now. Here(in portuguese): https://www.itau.com.br/cartoes/cartao-virtual/ Or am I missing something? Edit: They launched it in 2002: http://exame2.com.br/mobile/tecnologia/noticias/itau-agora-t... Edit2: Sounds new in the US. This is not supposed to be a bragging/snarky comment. Just genuinely surprised as innovation usually come t…

I know at least one Swedish bank has been providing this service forever too. They call it "e-kort" or "e-card".

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#306

Post by nobodyshere »

boling11 wrote: post #4

Hey HN - Privacy.com co-founder here. I'm really excited to share what we've been working on for the past year and a half or so. We've been neck-deep in payments stuff on the card issuing side (getting a BIN sponsor, ACH origination, etc), so happy to answer any questions on that front as well. P.S. For new users, your first $5 donation to watsi.org is on us :)

I'm not really excited this is another US only service.

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#307

Post by tome »

How do they not run out of numbers? According to this random image I found on the internet, each bank has a space of one billion card numbers. If you have ten million customers, say you're going to run out of these very quickly.

http://www.financetwitter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Cra...

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#308

Post by usaphp »

tome wrote: post #307

How do they not run out of numbers? According to this random image I found on the internet, each bank has a space of one billion card numbers. If you have ten million customers, say you're going to run out of these very quickly. http://www.financetwitter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Cra...

Can you have a same number as somebody else but with a different expiration date, csv number and/or cardholder's name?

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#309

Post by zgubi »

boling11 wrote: post #301
zgubi wrote: post #291

@boling11, why does privacy.com need access to my online banking on an ongoing basis, after the initial signup is finished? I have changed my online banking password after signing up successfully, and I received an email complaining that "Our connection to your bank is broken". I can understand the need for initially providing my banking credentials for AML/KYC reasons, but I feel uncomfortable with your company cont…

We don't actually store your credentials. We work with Plaid.com, and take a token which we can use to pull balance information. This allows us to fund a transaction in real time and take on the risk of ACH. When you change your credentials, that token gets reset. If we took routing / account numbers, you'd have to preload your account and wait up to 3 business days. It's something we're definitely looking into thoug…

Thanks for your answer, it clarified things a lot.

My concern with plaid.com using my banking credentials on an ongoing basis still stands though, and for me this currently outweighs the privacy benefits to be gained by using the service. Additional ways of funding (either using a debit card or ACH preloading) would be most welcome and go a long way towards addressing my concerns.

privacy.com would be a very useful service to me, and I hope you will be successful with it!

Re: Privacy – Forget Your Credit Card

#310

Post by pbreit »

soneca wrote: post #89

Is that something that new? My bank (Itaú, in Brazil) offers this option for some time now. Here(in portuguese): https://www.itau.com.br/cartoes/cartao-virtual/ Or am I missing something? Edit: They launched it in 2002: http://exame2.com.br/mobile/tecnologia/noticias/itau-agora-t... Edit2: Sounds new in the US. This is not supposed to be a bragging/snarky comment. Just genuinely surprised as innovation usually come t…

Disposable and merchant-specific card numbers have been around for decades but never gained much traction. Probably because the meager benefits do not overcome the poor UX.
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