Credit card madness.

A credit card is seen as more valuable to a thief, they don't know if the credit limit is 300 or 30,000 but chances are the credit limit is more than the available funds in an average current account that could be accessed using a debit card or cheque book and they potentially have a much wider global acceptance. The chances are that it is simply a case that they have a standard policy for distribution, I know that the last 3 credit cards I have had from HSBC they have sent to the branch and asked me to pick them up bringing photo identification like a passport (which is photocopied) and provide a specimen signature that is checked to that stored on their computer system and that was my home address not to any high risk multiple occupancy address like student accommodation - it may be a policy to only deliver to the actual addressee.

It doesn't surprise me that it was delivered by a courier these days, there have been quite major problems (particularly in London) of organised gangs stealing cards by getting jobs working in royal mail sorting offices, I also gather that passports were/are sent by courier as these were also getting stolen by the same gangs. However I wouldn't have thought a debit card was not terribly good ID but a student ID could conceivably be a fake (after all you can buy those sort of things on the net)

Chris

I see your point 100%. As for the last part, the strange thing was that they called her from reception, she came down from her room, and so she obviously lived there. That is why I was surprised he rejected it.

I assume the Royal Mail does no background checks then?

Doesnt sound over the top to me,seems perfectly reasonable. In these days of accusations of finanical institutions falling over themselves to "force" credit upon those who may not be able to afford it, it is refreshing to see that at least one institution is being responsible.

In message , Zed writes

Whats over the top about it?

But she was in. How many times had he called previously when she was out?

Student ID isn't 'bone fide'.

Cheques arent generally used for petty crime these days and can be bounced.

Debit cards, similarly, arent generally used becuase it is easier to capture them.

But once she has got the card, and after she has demonstrated that she uses her card sensibly, the limit will undoubtedly rise and when she is earning zillions of pounds the limit will rise accordingly.

Credit cards are 'tools of the trade' for the criminal community and despite the belief that all credit card transactions are authorised on line, they are not, and a £300 limit isnt, in itself, sufficient to prevent a thief running up a far larger debt.

OK, yes, this makes sense, I understand the bank was being responsible.

So, with a 300 limit could someone purchase something for say 350 or could it be a much huger amount? Why and where would transactions still not be authorised in real time?

In message , Zed writes

Merchants are set 'floor limits' below which transactions dont arent authorised on line. Above that 'floor limit' the transaction can be authorised at increasing levels of security whereby the card issuer accepts differing levels of risk.

100% 24/7 real time authorisation *by the card issuer* (as opposed to intermediate authorisations) for all transaction values isnt yet available.

Interesting, because the only time my Mastercard was ever declined was when I was over the limit, and the purchase was about 20 from a Waterstones. Presumably for this purchase they cheeked with the card issuer? It doesn't seem very much to check?

In message , Zed writes

They will have checked somewhere up the authorisation line, possibly as far as your card issuer but possibly not.

You say you were over your limit, which means you must have got there already.

If there was always online authorisation nobody would ever go over their limit, except for charges etc., of course. I am not saying NO transactions are checked on line by the issuer, just that many arent, many are below a floor limit or are validated by an intermediate verification system which the issuer agrees to abide by.

I dont understand this. What do you mean by 'very much'?

How can every merchant terminal in the world be on line with every card issuer in the world 24/7?

Except during temporary system outages, why couldn't they be?

Chris

They will at random occasionally check small value transactions under the limit, otherwise someone with a stolen credit card could continue making purchases under the floor limit indefinitely (well until the card expired anyway).

In message , Chris Blunt writes

The network isnt that sophisticated.

There's also a setting called "1 in n check" where 1 in n transactions (where n can be vary) are checked regardless.

They were being supplied by temping agencys - who were probably meant to do checks for RM but weren't

Without a hint of irony, john boyle astounded uk.finance on 08 Nov 2004 by announcing:

It most certainly is. APACS 40 transactions are processed in exactly that way.

In any case, with an EMV transaction the card itself will do the authorising with online processing as a backup.

Without a hint of irony, john boyle astounded uk.finance on 09 Nov 2004 by announcing:

They don't have to be. They just have to be online with their acquirer. It is the acquirer who is 'online' with the issuer (or VISA/Mastercard).

I thought the floor limit was generally about £10.

Well, actually, it is possible - and the system could cope. The major reason is cost - not many retailers are prepared to pay for 24/7 telephone connection to their merchant service provider.

Further, it is not necessary for every retailer to be online to every card issuer - far from it. They only need be online to their merchant service provider who will query with the issuing bank! That part of the system, at least, IS on 24/7.

The floor limit so regularly discussed is a limit below which the merchant s. prov. is prepared to 'take the risk' of fraudlent use - and the limit is often not even divulged to the retailer themselves, though generally it forms an aspect of negotiation between merchant and retailer. The limit will be different for different retailers - depending on the level of risk the retailer themselves represents, the length of time they have been customers, the average price of goods, and even the type of cards being considered. Your corner shop will, for obvious reasons, have a different floor limit to a car dealership!

HTH

Marcus

"Zed" wrote

How'd they do *that* then? ;-) (spelling mistake?)

Surely it isn't that sophisticated by today's communication standards. I can sit at my PC and be connected almost instantaneously to any other device on the network anywhere in the world. If I can do that as a private individual why would it need anything much more sophisticated to enable a merchant to communicate with any card issuer in the world?

Chris