monahos

http://www.americanexpress.com/priva...nts/?link=info

One of the few things I really like about Amex...

I hope this feature won't disappear, as did the discontinued mileage manager and email services.

Centurion

Anyone think this is a fallout from the Patriot act?

Xyzzy

I think the service wasn't too popular and the card numbers were not readily accepted by all merchants. I found it difficult to use the card numbers at many online merchants because the expiration date was so close. A lot of places (particularly those selling expensive electronic and computer equipment) did not like that.

Also, this portion of their web site *always* maximizes the browser window, HIGHLY annoying.

Centurion

Let me make this a little more clear. The Patriot Act or one of the Patriot Acts "cousins" makes it very clear that financial institutions and vendors must know their customers. They must have identifiying information about the customer. You would think that private payments would not obscure anything from law enforcement but you never know. I think pre paid visa cards would have had a much stronger role out but banks are cautious about complying with the new laws.

writetorich

Something I encountered which made me really unhappy is that "Private payment number" is only valid for ONE charge.

Previously, I could use the same number for the balance of the time until it expired.

Now if need a new number for every small purchase, I liked the 'shelf life ' of 3 to 7 weeks.

Steve M

I don't see how this would have anything to do with the "know your customer" laws. Amex obviously knows who each number belongs to, as they never seem to have trouble putting the charges on my bill :-)

I too hope that they keep this feature around. In looking at my transaction history, I see that I've used it around 40 times in the past year.

They say that they still offer complete Internet fraud protection, but this doesn't cut it for me for several reasons:

- If your card number gets compromised, you have to get a new card number, meaning that you have to notify all of the merchants that you've signed up with for automatic monthly billing.

- You aren't protected from unscrupulous merchants that may submit additional charges (although you can deal with these through the normal chargeback process, it's far easier to prevent them from happening in the first place).

I just tallied the Private Payments charges I've made over the last year, and they add up to over $46,000. I know I'm just one guy, but this business is likely to move over to Citibank if Amex discontinues the service.

Steve M

This is where the Citibank product is clearly better. When you request a number, you specify if it's valid for a single charge or for multiple charges, how long you want the number to be valid for (up to 12 months), and the total cumulative dollar amount allowed for that number. In all cases, a particular number is valid for only a single merchant. Also, the virtual card number appears on the statement.

The Citibank product is superior in all ways to Private Payments, except for the fact that you can't use it to earn Starwood Preferred Guest points . Besides Citibank, does anyone know of any other bank that issues these for Visa/MasterCard accounts? I don't remember hearing of anyone else.

PointJunkie

It's toast:

As of April 15, 2004, we will no longer be offering Private Payments® from American Express.

Private Payments Transaction History will continue to be available until May 1, 2004. Please use this time to print any necessary information from your Private Payments Transaction History.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

pitflyer

Got the same notice in the mail last night from AMEX. I'm a little ticked, since I did use that feature a lot, and am wondering if Discover, etc, still will offer their similar programs, or if everyone is going to pull the 'one time use credit card #' option?

Steve M

I just spoke with Centurion customer service, and they said that the information they have states that the reasons for discontinuance were "low use" and "high cost of maintenance."

I have no reason to doubt this, but things like this are always a bit surprising. Considering that most people seem to be at least somewhat concerned about Internet credit card fraud, it's surprising to find out that very few people will go to the trouble to use such a feature.

I guess it's kind of like email privacy. Almost everyone says that this concerns them, yet almost nobody uses encryption, even when it's readily available in Microsoft Outlook as a standard feature.

LIH Prem

I got the letter in the snail mail too. Bummer. I liked that feature and I was using it quite a bit. Never had a problem using it either. I didn't know about the citibank program. I'll have to check into it.

-David

925

"Besides Citibank, does anyone know of any other bank that issues these for Visa/MasterCard accounts? I don't remember hearing of anyone else."

MBNA has the best, most flexible disposable card numbers I have seen. Discover has them. Citibank has them. AmEx had them. If you know of others, please post.

MilesTalk

Add me to the "miffed customer" list.
I even took the time to write in and express displeasure, only to get a form letter back explaining that the program is being discontinued.

Kremmen

If you use Mozilla and keep the "move or resize existing windows" option unchecked, no sites will do this to you.

meFIRST

Am I the only one who is pissed here? - I use the Private Payments all the time. I like the comfort of knowing that merchant XXX does not have my card number.

It stops fraud or unauthorized charges at the source. I got a letter in the mail claiming that Private Payments will go offline on 4/15/03

What a shame!