HOW SAFE IS YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO WITH THE BANK
In today’s world of cyber crime and identity theft most of us have taken steps to protect our sensitive information that identity thieves are seeking, and while we may be taking prudent steps to secure ourselves from identity theft it seems the banks and companies processing our credit card charge authorization and payments aren’t nearly so careful. An investigation by the Associated Press found that there is significant reason for us to be concerned about the methods used by banks and the other companies handling our information. The government has left the design and supervision of precautionary measures up to the credit card banks and their associated companies to self regulate what, if any measures are taken to protect consumers from identity theft, which would explain why there are so many breaches reported every year. Many Americans find themselves in a huge amount of tax debt due to the fact that their banking information or social security information may have been compromised and it is now floating all over the internet. The last thing anyone needs is to have to hire a tax attorney to represent them because a number of individuals has been using their social security number to earn a living and then not pay the income taxes on those earnings.
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse there have been more than 70 retailers and payment processing companies that have disclosed breaches since 2006, exposing tens of millions of customer’s credit and debit card numbers. Additionally, it was found that many more breaches had occurred, but had gone undetected.
It was no surprise to find that even the companies with the “industries” top rating for computer security known as PCI compliance have been hacked, resulting in major heists of sensitive data. One in 10 of the mid to large size retailers in the United States have faced fines for their lax security measures, but are still free to continue to process credit and debit card payments without impediment. In fact most retailers do not even have to endure security audits; they are left to police themselves so to speak, although they don’t seem to have any incentive to do so. They see the problem of identity theft as the price of doing business and that stricter rules or regulation would amount to less speed, convenience, and an increase in credit costs.
Although customers can not be held liable for fraudulent charges, we still lose, because merchants will readily admit they pass on to consumers the costs they incur from credit card fraud, and for those unfortunate ones that are actual victims the time and effort involved in trying to repair your ruined credit can be overwhelming for some. So what can we as consumers do? Consumer advocates and money management experts agree it is necessary to have open lines of credit established and maintained for the purposes of creating and managing a good credit score for the event of buying a home, car, or other large dollar purchases.
However, they are also recommending that people once again return to paying for purchases by check or cash whenever possible in order to lessen their odds of identity theft. To many people the idea of paying off their credit card debt seems an impossible task. When that is the case the experts suggest seeking the help of a reputable and qualified non profit free debt consolidation agency to assist you with a viable plan of action.
Credit counselors can assist you in the various areas of services they offer consumers in handling their credit card debt and debt management, whether it be through simple budget and debt management or as detailed and comprehensive as debt settlement or debt consolidation, a reliable credit counseling agency can get you on your way to debt freedom. Short of that there is just one more thing to do, and that is to write, phone, fax or email President Obama and your other representatives asking for rules and regulations governing security measures for credit and debit card processors and their associated affiliates. It’s better to avoid these pitfalls now then end up owing (mistakenly or not) thousands to a bank or credit card company and then having to have a debt consolidation firm (or non-profit consumer advocate) have to help you clean up the mess later.
Tags: bank regulations, credit card safety, over draft fees, tax debt