50 Facts about credit cards

Here

7. Visa actually stands Visa International Service Association.

29. The expiration date on the card is “fake.” You can still use the card after its expiration date because the card number on your replacement will be the same. The reason why cards do expire varies from company to company but mostly it’s because the credit cards take a lot of abuse and just need replacing (they estimate the magnetic strip is good for only about three or four years of swiping).

I always have to give the expiry date when I make a purchase, is this just a UK thing?


HT

[llewtrah]

Although renewal is automatic these days, in the past you might have chosen not to renew your credit card, terminating your credit card contract at its expiry date.

[diddy]

29. The expiration date on the card is “fake.” You can still use the card after its expiration date because the card number on your replacement will be the same. The reason why cards do expire varies from company to company but mostly it’s because the credit cards take a lot of abuse and just need replacing (they estimate the magnetic strip is good for only about three or four years of swiping).

THis really is only true as long as you don;t have to manually enter days. While most POS systems and CC authorization systems do have a few day leeway, the system can reject a credit card if it has expired (say you forgot to destroy the old one or have not activated the new one. It vary's though. As a former cahsier I can confirm that it has rejected cards that have expired after it's date.

[AnglRdr]

Even before the ubiquity of magnetic strips on credit cards, they had expiration dates.

[Four Kitties]

Whenever one of my cards is replaced it has the same account number but a different 3-digit code on the back. So it may not work after expiration.

Four Kitties

[Eve MG]

16. Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, and Discover Card, vendors may not require a minimum purchase amount. Under AMEX, it’s more of a hint that the vendor shouldn’t put up any barriers to use but AMEX also has a discrimination rule, so if there is no minimum amount for MC/Visa, there cannot be a minimum amount for AMEX. (Consumerist has all the relevant merchant agreements consolidated)

I wish more people knew about this one! Most places are pretty good about it, but I was at a tack shop over the summer that wouldn't let me use a credit card or write a check for $2 and change. (It was actually a $27 purchase, but we had a gift certificate.) I had to go dig for change in my car.

[qualli]

Originally Posted by Eve MG

that wouldn't let me use a credit card or write a check for $2 and change..

Not sure about the check, but here the machines charge for every swipe. Swiping a card for anything less than $5 really cuts into our profits.

(We manage to avoid this mostly, because we just let our regular customer run up a tab until they hit $10, or some people pay ahead and keep credit at the store.)

[Eve MG]

Originally Posted by qualli

Not sure about the check, but here the machines charge for every swipe. Swiping a card for anything less than $5 really cuts into our profits.

(We manage to avoid this mostly, because we just let our regular customer run up a tab until they hit $10, or some people pay ahead and keep credit at the store.)

I know, but it's still the MC/Visa rule. In my case, it was just totally unexpected, and I figured we'd either spend more than $5 or just a few cents over the gift certificate amount. She said I couldn't write a check because they present those electronically, too. The worst part was that she wasn't even sure, she was just saying, "I don't think I can take that..." after I was writing it, of course!

If the stuff wasn't my daughter's, I would have just put back something to make it under $25, but the lower priced items were the things she wanted the most. At this point we just wanted to buy *something* and use up the gift certificate.

I think your store's idea is a good one. My friend has a sign at their store that says, "If your purchase is under $6, please consider paying with a check or cash." I think that's a good alternative too.

[Insensible Crier]

17. Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, and Discover Card, vendors may not charge a surcharge for using the card (the anti-discrimination rules still apply for AMEX). In some states, it is actually illegal to charge a surcharge for credit card purchases. This rule does not apply to government agencies.

I know of several places where you were charged more if you used a credit card, like liquor stores. Maybe they got around it by saying you get a discount for using cash and not a surcharge for using a credit card.

[Insensible Crier]

Originally Posted by Four Kitties

Whenever one of my cards is replaced it has the same account number but a different 3-digit code on the back. So it may not work after expiration.

Four Kitties

I know our system will reject a card with an expired date. It does this without even sending anything to the bank. I know because I had to write and test the bloody thing.

Originally Posted by Hypno Toad

I always have to give the expiry date when I make a purchase, is this just a UK thing?

I have always had to give the expiration date when making an online purchase, but not when using the card in person.

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by Class Bravo

I have always had to give the expiration date when making an online purchase, but not when using the card in person.

The date is encoded in the magnetic strip.

29. The expiration date on the card is “fake.” You can still use the card after its expiration date because the card number on your replacement will be the same.

Several years ago, I phoned to the Hotline of my internet provider to cancel my subscription.
The guy on the phone asked me my credit card number (to check my identity, I suppose). He said : "That's the card with an expiration date of xx/xx (several months before). If you don't have it, you need to ask your bank."
I called my bank and explained my problem. Then the guy of the bank explained that my new card had the *same* number...

Last month, just days before the expiration date of my credit card, my internet provider sent me an e-mail to ask me my new credit card number. I didn't have my new card yet, so I wanted to send the number of my old card with the expiration date + 2 years. My girlfriend told me that it was more careful to wait for the new card. The number could be different, according to her. I followed her advise and, indeed, for some reason, the number of the new card *was* different.

[Cervus]

In my experience, different card companies and banks may issue new cards with a different account number, or the same account number but a different 3-number security code on the back. And some issue a new card with the same number; it all depends on the company.

[Skeptic]

Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, Discover Card and AMEX, you do not need to present a driver’s license in order to complete a credit card transaction.

I was in Spain on holidays a few weeks ago. I noticed without exception that people hand over their National ID card when paying. I don't speak Spanish so I couldn't ask if if was compulsory. But to prevent fraud, it sounds like a reasonable idea.

Restaurants typically will authorize a credit card purchase for the amount of the bill plus 25% (for gratuity), so again, if your limit can’t handle the extra 25%, the purchase transaction will be rejected.

25% gratuity, no-one has ever been THAT good serving me.

The expiration date on the card is “fake.” You can still use the card after its expiration date because the card number on your replacement will be the same.

Almost true. When I worked in corporate travel, our clients sometimes did not remind us when they got their new credit cards. If we found their profile gave an expired date, we just added two years to the date and never had a problem

Credit card numbers conform to the Luhn algorithm, which is just a simple checksum test on the number. What you do is start from the right and double each second digit (1111 becomes 2121), then add them all together, and you should end with a number evenly divisible by ten. If it doesn’t, it’s not a valid credit card number.

The fact that this is well known kind of makes it pointless.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Cervus

In my experience, different card companies and banks may issue new cards with a different account number, or the same account number but a different 3-number security code on the back. And some issue a new card with the same number; it all depends on the company.

I've actually had the same company do both. I've had a Citi Bank card since I was in college. The first one was a Visa card, and then when it was about to expire they replaced it with a MasterCard, and thus a different card number. Ever since then they've sent me MasterCards with the same account number.

Originally Posted by Eve MG

I wish more people knew about this one! Most places are pretty good about it, but I was at a tack shop over the summer that wouldn't let me use a credit card or write a check for $2 and change. (It was actually a $27 purchase, but we had a gift certificate.) I had to go dig for change in my car.

The transaction costs for accepting credit cards for a merchant are huge. The business I manage (which is only one branch out of many) typically pays $3000 per month in credit card fees on about $120,000 in sales.

My company used to have a minimum requirement for a CC purchase, but we eliminated it. However, when it was in effect if I received a complaint I would simply say, "We don't have to accept credit cards at all". Of course, I would still let customers use them (our minimum was $5).

Until recently, we authorized credit cards for an addtional 20% over the purchase amount to cover any tip. However, after receiving thousands of phone-in and email complaints from customers who said we were overcharging them, we eliminated it. Try explaining to someone who is irate on the phone over $2... that it will revert to the original charge as soon as the payment clears the bank. They never listen. So now, if someone leaves a tip on a card, we have to authorize it a second time. That's another fee. I can't help but think that some people (like the ones who don't understand about the difference between an authorization and a charge) bring the "minimum credit card purchase" rule onto themselves.

[sneeze042]

I noticed the link wasn't working, at least for me, but I found the list on another page:
http://www.bargaineering.com/article...dit-cards.html

[FloridaGirl]

#34 Credit card numbers conform to the Luhn algorithm, which is just a simple checksum test on the number. What you do is start from the right and double each second digit (1111 becomes 2121), then add them all together, and you should end with a number evenly divisible by ten. If it doesn’t, it’s not a valid credit card number.

#36 The first six digits will correspond to the issuer, including the major industry identifier. 34xxxx/37xxxx are for American Express, 4xxxxx is for Visa, 51-55xxxx is for MasterCard, and 6011xx is for Discover.

Wow, none of my credit cards fit #34, but they all work.

As far as #36, that's not quite right either. It's actually the first 8 (at least, with all CCs that are issued by a bank). The first 4 do do at stated, the next 4 identify the branch of the bank that issued the card. I took enough CC numbers for applications to know. Heck, if you were a Wachovia member from the branch in town, the second set of digits was always 4744.

[MapleLeaf]

Originally Posted by Eve MG

I think your store's idea is a good one. My friend has a sign at their store that says, "If your purchase is under $6, please consider paying with a check or cash." I think that's a good alternative too.

Most stores in Toronto won't accept payment with a cheque anymore...