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From: cpqhou!scotts@uunet.uu.net
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Credit Card ID
Message-ID: <6295@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 11 Apr 90 05:46:59 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 249, Message 10 of 13


In a related vein (to the problems about AT&T needing SS#), I recently
read an article that quoted the head of CitiCorp's credit security.
He said that thousands of retailers all over the country had started
asking purchasers to supply a home phone number along with credit card
purchases.  He stated that this had no purpose, because the merchant
is always payed by the card company, and that there was no need for
the merchant to call the customer.  The article went on to say that
the reason they ask is simple.  It is a great way to advertise.  If
they decide to run a phone solicitation, they don't have to go combing
through the phone book to attract customers.  They simply have to make
a list of all the numbers off their credit card receipts, and they now
have a much higher potential of attracting customers.

The CitiCorp guy said that he tells merchants that they don't need the
number, and that they should accept his work number or he'll go
elsewhere.

I asked a few of the local merchants in the Houston area why they
needed the phone number.  The most prominent answer from the sales
clerks was that they had been told to by management and they didn't
know why.  A couple of sales managers told me it was needed for
security (in case I wasn't who I said I was).  One store owner
admitted that he asked simply because that was what everyone else did.

Now I no longer give away my home phone for this purpose.  If they
ask, I politely give them my work number, without telling them what it
is.  If they were to actually need to call me about my purchase, they
would probably be able to reach me at work.  If they want to advertise
their product, I will tell them what they can do with it.  I used to
feel that the phone was a nice anonymous device that I would happily
give anyone, as opposed to my address, which I never gave out.  It
only took one month of prank calls to change my mind.  Now I gaurd my
phone number like my credit card numbers.  I only give it to people
who clearly have the need to know.  Am I paranoid?  Probably, but I
prefer "cautious".


+ Scott Shaffer @ SW Development @ Compaq Computer Corporation @ Houston, TX +