I have a (Canadian) MBNA Starwood Mastercard. Today I was on the MBNA securecode website to obtain a securecode to enable me to purchase airline tickets online - without this securecode both Air Canada and WestJet refused my credit card.

The last clause in the terms and conditions reads:


"You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless MasterCard and MBNA and their Suppliers, their licensees, successors, and assignees, affiliated merchants, content providers, technology and service providers, or this website providers, advertisers and sponsors, the parent, affiliated and subsidiary companies of each of them and the officers, directors, employees, and agents of each of them from and against any and all third party claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or related to any breach or alleged breach by you of this Agreement or any use of MasterCard SecureCode by you or under your control. MasterCard and MBNA reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses. You will not settle any action or claims on our behalf without our prior written consent."

Of course I did not accept these terms. I can not believe that any reasonable person would accept terms like this. The alternative is to make payments for my flights by telephone and suffer long on-hold times.

A few questions if there are any legal/financial people out there:

1. Does ticking a box on a website "I agree" mean I have agreed to a legal contract?

2. Do people actually sign these clauses agreeing to indemnify credit card companies for all there legal and other expenses?