Not Hot: AMEX to discontinue 'Private Payments' on Apr 15

[arcas]

Received notice in the mail indicating that American Express will cease offering "Private Payments" (their one-time-use credit card number feature) on April 15, 2004. Their website confirms this. No reason is given as to why the service is being discontinued.

This is disappointing because there are a number of online stores that I simply do not trust with a normal credit card number. Even though Amex does not hold you responsible for fraudulent charges, I would imagine the process of having a charge removed is annoying at best.

So...if you were considering Amex because of their one-time-use feature, you'll need to look elsewhere. What other options are there?

 

[Maximus96]

well, my AAA gas card offers 5% back from any gas and also can be used to generate one-time-use numbers from the MBNA 'shopsafe' feature. the MBNA version allows you to specify a set amount, as well as expiring in 1 month.

 

[bunker]

Maybe if enough of us write and complain they won't get rid of it...

 

[lalaw]

My Citibank Mastercard has "Virtual" Payments. I use them all the time. It's much more robust than the Amex.

 

[rs]

Even though Amex does not hold you responsible for fraudulent charges, I would imagine the process of having a charge removed is annoying at best.

Someone once got a hold of my American Express number and charged about $5k in Mexico. I called American Express and told them that I hadn't made those charges. AmEx simply asked me a few questions about whether I had any idea of how or where the card number had been obtained (I didn't), and then removed the charges from my bill and Fedex'ed me a replacement card with a new number. No hassles or argument. I don't know if other cards are as cooperative in the event of card number theft, but American Express's consumer friendly response resulted in my using their card for all online purchases from that point forward.

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Maybe they're discontinuing the service because:

1) not enough people are using it
2) it's too costly to implement
3) they're going to change it into a fee-based add-on service

Anyone have any ideas?

I liked the private payments feature. Are there any other credit card companies out there with a similar service?

 

[Maximus96]

if you read the thread, it has already been stated that MBNA cards and citibank cards offer similar services.

 

[carmann]

A few days ago I called and asked why they were discontinuing the feature. The csr's response was, not many people used the feature and it conflicts with their online fraud protection policy.

A member on another board said he called too and was told basically the same thing and that it was too costly to keep.

 

[allisolm]

What other options are there?

Discover has single-use card numbers.

 

[InspectorGadget]

Originally posted by: lalaw
My Citibank Mastercard has "Virtual" Payments. I use them all the time. It's much more robust than the Amex.

No offense, but IMO I think the "robust" features make Citibank's a heck of a lot harder to use.

I've used Citibank's, Amex's and Discovercard's versions of the online number generator and the Amex in my opinion wins hands down. When I am making an online purchase, I want the most straightforward way of getting to the number. Amex is quick. Account name, password, click the drop-down to select my card, press the generate button and there's my number. Start to finish, less than 30 seconds.

Citibank's requires a strange log-in procedure that seems to take much, much longer. Discover does not seem to be accepted at as many online stores, so I've used that less.

 

[ValsalvaYourHeartOut]

Man, that totally blows. I use this feature all the time.

Valsalva

 

[Squisher]

At first I wasn't too happy when I got the letter, but like the letter said they are covering 100% of any fraudulent charges.

So, why bother with private payments?

 

[Maximus96]

just a sense of security i guess

 

[linuxthinker]

Citibank cards have one-time use numbers.

 

[FPSguy]

Originally posted by: Squisher
At first I wasn't too happy when I got the letter, but like the letter said they are covering 100% of any fraudulent charges. So, why bother with private payments?

It makes it less likely that you will have to notice fraudulent charges on your statement, and hassle with them if you notice them.

 

[falconx80]

citibank is great....their user interface is 100x better than stinky amex.

and my citibank master card is directly linked to my citibank acct so i get to see/pay acct with no hazzles.

 

[krackato]

I don't understand how having a giving a Private Payment number and NOT having to deal with a $5,000 fake charge from Mexico is somehow more expensive than dealing with a $5,000 fake charge. Then again, I don't know a lot about the credit card business.

 

[arcas]

Originally posted by: FPSguy

Originally posted by: Squisher
At first I wasn't too happy when I got the letter, but like the letter said they are covering 100% of any fraudulent charges. So, why bother with private payments?

It makes it less likely that you will have to notice fraudulent charges on your statement, and hassle with them if you notice them.

FPS guy is exactly correct. I know and understand Amex's zero liability policy and in fact I refuse to own a credit card that does not have such a policy. Unfortunately, "zero liability" is not the same as "zero inconvenience" or "zero hassle." See, for me the greatest benefit of a single-use card number is not the supposed extra security it provides. It is the fact that after I use that number, I could care less if that number is later stolen -- the number won't work anymore.

Originally posted by: rs
Someone once got a hold of my American Express number and charged about $5k in Mexico. I called American Express and told them that I hadn't made those charges. AmEx simply asked me a few questions about whether I had any idea of how or where the card number had been obtained (I didn't), and then removed the charges from my bill and Fedex'ed me a replacement card with a new number. No hassles or argument...

But you see, you were hassled. You had to take time to call customer service, explain the situation and answer those questions. You had to have a replacement card with a new number as a result. That, in my book, is an inconvenience.

Therein lies the difference between a "zero liability" policy and a "zero inconvenience" policy. With a single-use CC number, you wouldn't have had to call customer service because that number would not have worked for the thieves (assuming they didn't manage to steal the number before the store charged against it...and I'm willing to accept that window of opportunity...that's where the 'zero liability' policy comes into play).


Anybody know if the Citibank single-use-number thing can be done online or does it require a windows-only applet? One of the things I liked about Amex PrivatePayments was that you could request a number via their website so it doesn't matter what kind of computer you're using at the time.

 

[Desaad]

Anybody know if the Citibank single-use-number thing can be done online or does it require a windows-only applet? One of the things I liked about Amex PrivatePayments was that you could request a number via their website so it doesn't matter what kind of computer you're using at the time.

Citibank's number can be generated on the web or by the windows applet.
I think Discover's number can only be generated with the windows applet.

 

[darksine2003]

It opens a flash based client which you can either download or go to the Citibank card site each time you visit. It also uses IE, I tried to get it to open with Mozilla but no dice.

 

[maxxas]

not to mention that you can't copy and paste the charge number. not too fond of toggling between two windows to manually type it in. do most of my purchases online and use AMEX PrivatePayments several times a week. bummer.

 

[MrNutz]

First no more online price-matching... now this... AMEX is falling back into the hole it dug itself out of a few years back... :disgust:

 

[Wolverine27]

Definitely an unfortunate development. I was a big fan of their Private Payments system. :frown:

 

[HarryK]

I'm bummed about this and sent them some feedback online through my account. I use Private Payments ALL the time for exactly the reasons that others have stated.

Beyond that, I've had an Amex for a long time because they're great about chargebacks. I tell them that I didn't get something that I ordered or there's an incorrect charge on my account and they instantly credit me the money and they deal with it from there.

But without the single-use numbers, I'll have to look into a Citibank card. Is it really true that you can't copy/paste Citibank's 1-time use numbers?

 

[GroundedSailor]

Originally posted by: Squisher
At first I wasn't too happy when I got the letter, but like the letter said they are covering 100% of any fraudulent charges.

So, why bother with private payments?

Among the other advantages, recurring charges could not be made to your account. Say you want to sign up for a one time deal with a merchant who is known to make recurring charges, like magazines who offer you a cheap starter deal and then hit you for the full rate the next year, you could use Private Payments and know you were safe.

I'm a big fan of Amex and have been using their private payments for all online purchases since they introduced it. Bummer.