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Credit cards have a privacy problem

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#131

Post by astura »

paulie_a wrote: post #72
skybrian wrote: post #69

Headline not proven. He claimed to do an experiment and didn't find any security hole or any real results, but then blathered on about what might have happened. I can read privacy policies and make up scenarios and so can you, but so what? And more generally, credit cards have been around a long time. Shouldn't there be more evidence by now if anyone is being harmed by sharing data about consumer purchases?

Every single purchase line by line is recorded by many companies. And the security is absolutely terrible over all. If you don't care if your spending habits are shared that is fine. I don't want my data hacked further

Then use cash?

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#132

Post by astura »

zaroth wrote: post #76
larrybud wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1. I’ve often wondered how these cashback services like the ones you mentioned, or, for example, the restaurant ones like aadvantage dining work. Do the affiliates get all your transactions? (I really hope not). Or, do the affiliates have agreements with the cc processors to flag transactions on their side?

There seems to be no non-terrifying answer to this question.

Depends on your definition of "terrifying."

I dont personally care that some marketer knowns I purchased toilet paper then went to the tacorita on Tuesday; I'll gladly give that information away for $4.

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#133

Post by astura »

mehrdadn wrote: post #50
ceejayoz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect you're overestimating how many of those there are.

I suspect you're underestimating? A lot of people (around half of Americans if not more) don't carry a balance. I don't know what fraction of them try to extract the most from their cards, but judging from the sheer number of websites that explain what card you should get to maximize which reward and bonus, I'm skeptical that the number of people who pay attention to this is negligible enough that it'd cost companies…

>sheer number of websites that explain what card you should get to maximize which reward and bonus

These sites are mostly blogspam that push referral links.

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#134

Post by decoyworker »

dehrmann wrote: post #82

Yup, do-no-evil Google buys your credit card data for advertising purposes: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-30/google-an... Companies need to start thinking of this less in the lens of "evil" and more principle of least astonishment. Would users be surprised and angry to learn you do this? Then don't.

>Would users be surprised and angry to learn you do this? Then don't.

Doesn't this already exist since nobody wants to piss off shareholders?

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#135

Post by hyperbovine »

johnisgood wrote: post #122
FabHK wrote: post #107

I know, I know, the editorial staff is separate from the advertising/sales staff etc, but still find it funny that when I try to access the article in incognito mode, as I habitually do (for privacy), I get > We noticed you’re browsing in private mode. Private browsing is permitted exclusively for our subscribers. Turn off private browsing to keep reading this story, or subscribe to use this feature, plus get unlimit…

Disgusting. I avoid those kind of places like plague.

Yes, isn't it revolting that they try and get people to pay for the content they spend money to produce? How dare they.

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#136

Post by C1sc0cat »

mehrdadn wrote: post #29
hnburnsy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a good explanation... https://squareup.com/guides/credit-card-processing-fees-and-... "The card that’s used Debit cards with PINs are lower risk than credit cards, so they typically have a lower interchange rate. And rewards cards (travel, triple points, etc.) and business cards typically have have higher interchange rates."

They don't make up the full 5% though, and there are people who do consistently use these cards only for their 5% categories.

I used to do this in the UK brought my monthly season ticket using a 3% cashback used to make just under £20 a month.

Of course the badly implemented EU changes which in theory should have benefited the consumer did not - the merchants just took the reduction in interchange fees and didn't cut prices at all for the end consumers

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#137

Post by [deleted] »

kube-system wrote: post #42
mehrdadn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody said unconditional. You just rotate the cards in your wallet and use whatever 5% category fits your purchase. You might not do this, but there are people who do, and never pay interest. They clearly operate at a loss for the company year after year. I'm asking why their accounts aren't closed.

Because for every person who signs up and causes them a loss, there’s dozens of others enticed by the same rewards programs who make them a profit. Credit card companies aren’t having any problems being profitable. I would imagine the number of people who only purchase things that are in the 5% category on their card is extremely small.

[deleted]

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#139

Post by astura »

mehrdadn wrote: post #45
kube-system wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because for every person who signs up and causes them a loss, there’s dozens of others enticed by the same rewards programs who make them a profit. Credit card companies aren’t having any problems being profitable. I would imagine the number of people who only purchase things that are in the 5% category on their card is extremely small.

> Because for every person who signs up and causes them a loss, there’s dozens of others enticed by the same rewards programs who make them a profit. That's the answer to the question "why are these cards offered at all", which was not my question. My question was, "why are even the accounts of people who consistently cause them a loss still kept open?", which this doesn't answer.

I dont understand the confusion, its called a 'loss leader."

These companies have very, very smart people working for them, analyzing all the data they have to come up with a product and its limits. They know x% will not be profitable, and they include that in the profit calculations.

Why dont they simply cut off the non-profitable customers? Because people don't like this and they'll quickly tell their friends "Don't sign up for Discover, they cancel your account if you don't make them money." It wound be all over Slickdeals and blogs. No credit card is going to survive cancelling accounts for using their credit line in totally normal ways.

Just like a store could say "for every 10 sale priced items you buy you must buy a full priced item" - but then nobody would shop there.

Re: Credit cards have a privacy problem

#140

Post by JulianMorrison »

decoyworker wrote: post #134
dehrmann wrote: post #82

Yup, do-no-evil Google buys your credit card data for advertising purposes: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-30/google-an... Companies need to start thinking of this less in the lens of "evil" and more principle of least astonishment. Would users be surprised and angry to learn you do this? Then don't.

>Would users be surprised and angry to learn you do this? Then don't. Doesn't this already exist since nobody wants to piss off shareholders?

Shareholders don't get annoyed when you're evil, they get ($)_($) eyes.
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