Credit Cards

[Abigail]

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 01:27:54PM +0100, Robert Shiels wrote:
> further to recent discussions, I think there are people here who might  
> be able to give me and  answer to a question I have that I can't fine  
> through browsing.
>
> I tried to buy something through play.com last week, and they want my  
> credit card details. Along with the usual dates and numbers, they are  
> also insisting on a date of birth, and a landline telephone number? For  
> security reasons.
>
> I dislike giving online retailers any more information than I have to -  
> do they really need this? Will other companies be following suit and so  
> refusing is just me playing Canute? Will the CC company verify these  
> details (not sure if I've even given them my phone number.) - I'm of the  
> opinion that play.com are just data mining.


Last year in California, many of the gas station asked for a zip code
after scanning my credit card. Of course, being in the US, they only
accepted five digit numerical codes - not the 4 digits 2 letters we have
in .nl. So I used a (valid) NYC zip code. Some gas station accepted the
transaction, some rejected it. But those that rejected the credit card,
accepted my ATM card (no zip code required). I was positively surprised
by the ability to use my ATM card for retail, because as soon as I step
accross the border here in Europe, I can only use my ATM card at banks,
not retailers.


Abigail