Numerals
As a general rule, I don't have great ideas. I'll lounge in my chair, a half-baked idea will loll around in my head, and I'll grow terribly excited. Then someone possessing common sense will shoot it down for reasons I should have anticipated. It's fairly depressing.
I've thought this one through more than most, and I haven't found any real chinks yet. So tell me why it won't work- I promise, you won't hurt my feelings.
I was watching a credit card commercial the other day, and a fancy card splashed across the screen. The embossed and raised credit card number gleamed like a new Cadillac. And I thought to myself- what's the point of putting the credit card number on the card itself? I remember back when stores used the old systems where they would make an embossment of the card, but I haven't see any of those around in years. Most people that take credit nowadays are sophistacated enough to have the ubiquitous card readers that someone made millions designing. And those machines don't care if you slide through a bus ticket stub- as long as it has a magnetic strip on the back that contains a card number.
So why the numbers where people can find them if they have steal your wallet? Without the number on the card itself, people wouldn't be able to go nuts on one of the gazillion Internet websites that just require the basic credit card information. It would save both the consumers and credit card companies insane amounts of money. And it's simple.
The only weakness I've been able to figure out is that people would have to carry their credit card number around perhaps, if they do a lot of Internet shopping away from home. But I just don't think that's a terribly large number of people. And needing two separate items in order to carry out identity theft helps to thwart the activity. At the very least, having the numbers taken off the front should be an option for the savvy consumer. (You could make the argument that anyone using a credit card isn't terribly savvy, but that's a whole other post.)
Some credit card companies have a small picture of yourself in the corner, but the thief with a stolen credit card doesn't use it at the grocery store. So the picture doesn't help.
So tell me, what's the practical purpose of having embossed and shiny numbers on the face of credit cards? Is it an example of not changing based on outdated industry standards or does it serve a purpose I'm just not seeing?
I've thought this one through more than most, and I haven't found any real chinks yet. So tell me why it won't work- I promise, you won't hurt my feelings.
I was watching a credit card commercial the other day, and a fancy card splashed across the screen. The embossed and raised credit card number gleamed like a new Cadillac. And I thought to myself- what's the point of putting the credit card number on the card itself? I remember back when stores used the old systems where they would make an embossment of the card, but I haven't see any of those around in years. Most people that take credit nowadays are sophistacated enough to have the ubiquitous card readers that someone made millions designing. And those machines don't care if you slide through a bus ticket stub- as long as it has a magnetic strip on the back that contains a card number.
So why the numbers where people can find them if they have steal your wallet? Without the number on the card itself, people wouldn't be able to go nuts on one of the gazillion Internet websites that just require the basic credit card information. It would save both the consumers and credit card companies insane amounts of money. And it's simple.
The only weakness I've been able to figure out is that people would have to carry their credit card number around perhaps, if they do a lot of Internet shopping away from home. But I just don't think that's a terribly large number of people. And needing two separate items in order to carry out identity theft helps to thwart the activity. At the very least, having the numbers taken off the front should be an option for the savvy consumer. (You could make the argument that anyone using a credit card isn't terribly savvy, but that's a whole other post.)
Some credit card companies have a small picture of yourself in the corner, but the thief with a stolen credit card doesn't use it at the grocery store. So the picture doesn't help.
So tell me, what's the practical purpose of having embossed and shiny numbers on the face of credit cards? Is it an example of not changing based on outdated industry standards or does it serve a purpose I'm just not seeing?
Labels: Musings
hayyOkay, it makes sense to me. I've long thought credit cards should require a pin number like ATM cards, but taking that number off the card should deter a lot of amateur card theft (professionals would have their own card reader).
Of course another way is don't carry the danged card. We have a credit card in the event we have to book a flight or rent a car (can't do either without a card), but we don't carry it with us - it stays locked up. Of course most people use their's instead of cash, but I've found most retailers still take cash.
Posted by
Fish-2 |
9:33 AM
I think it's a great idea, but have a couple of points to ponder.
I used to work in the business office at a hospital where I'd take payments for things, and sometimes people's magnetic cards wouldn't swipe. It wasn't a problem with my swiper, usually either their card had demagnatized, or just the card/swiper combo didn't work. Then, I'd have to punch in their card manually.
Without numbers on the cards (or without them carrying their card #), it was a lot more difficult to collect money from them (since a lot of them were out of country patients paying for their visit, and were hard to track down after).
From a shopping perspective, you'd have to leave all your precious Chrismtas gift picks in a stack on the check-out and shrink out of there (unless you had another form of payment).
I guess, assuming that cards and swipers would alawys work, it's a great idea. Unfortunately, they don't. If you always had another method of paying, then the idea would fly ... but unfortunately (another topic that I could go on and on about) there are a lot of people out there that are living on their credit cards.
Yikes.
Long comment.
Posted by
Lisa Hutch |
7:26 PM