Vince Maskeeper
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 1999
- Messages
- 6,500
Since this is often a hot topic here on the HTF, I figured I'd post this one:
Most companies, when accepting a check for payment, like to have your account number listed on the memo line on the check: this goes for the phone company, electric company, cable, etc. From the beginning I was also told you should do this for your Credit Card company.
I always felt a little weird about it, because my account number, of course, was my credit card number. Years ago I had an afternoon chat with the sister of a friend of mine, who was at the time a bank branch manager- and this conversation cemented my opinion about this.
She made it clear that cancelled checks were not at all secure and that the chain of employees at her branch alone, not to mention the people at the other branch where the checks were deposited and processed, was a long one.
While logic would seem to say that these people already have access to your bank accounts, I would think any smart thief that was tempted would be far more likely to pinch CC numbers from non-bank accounts where they'd be much less likely to get caught (since your CC number could be compromised anywhere).
Anyway- as a result, for years I have only put the last 4 digits of my account on my checks. I figured the CC company knows my name, address and account number-- the fact that the same info appears on the check should be more than enough.
Last year I switch to paying my bills online. Originally in Feb of 2004 I set up an account in Ohio and paid my CC bill using online bill pay. Again, I set up the account so that it only displayed the last four digits (so in online bill pay the account number was listed as XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-9999). There seemed to be no problem, and I did this until I moved to LA in June.
In June I set up my LA accounts, again with online bill pay, and again with the same account format (only showing the last 4 digits). I paid my CC bill this way for the last year.
Today I get a call from my bank saying my bill-pay had been returned and that the CC company will not accept it unless it has the full account number on the check. Of course, this has not been a problem for the past 2 years I've used online billpay- and was not a problem for the 6 years before I paid by check and MO.
Any thoughts about this? It seems the CC company, of all people, should know how many people have access to cancelled checks and would encourage customers to protect their account numbers.
And I'm still baffled why they came up with this policy all of a sudden.
\V
Most companies, when accepting a check for payment, like to have your account number listed on the memo line on the check: this goes for the phone company, electric company, cable, etc. From the beginning I was also told you should do this for your Credit Card company.
I always felt a little weird about it, because my account number, of course, was my credit card number. Years ago I had an afternoon chat with the sister of a friend of mine, who was at the time a bank branch manager- and this conversation cemented my opinion about this.
She made it clear that cancelled checks were not at all secure and that the chain of employees at her branch alone, not to mention the people at the other branch where the checks were deposited and processed, was a long one.
While logic would seem to say that these people already have access to your bank accounts, I would think any smart thief that was tempted would be far more likely to pinch CC numbers from non-bank accounts where they'd be much less likely to get caught (since your CC number could be compromised anywhere).
Anyway- as a result, for years I have only put the last 4 digits of my account on my checks. I figured the CC company knows my name, address and account number-- the fact that the same info appears on the check should be more than enough.
Last year I switch to paying my bills online. Originally in Feb of 2004 I set up an account in Ohio and paid my CC bill using online bill pay. Again, I set up the account so that it only displayed the last four digits (so in online bill pay the account number was listed as XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-9999). There seemed to be no problem, and I did this until I moved to LA in June.
In June I set up my LA accounts, again with online bill pay, and again with the same account format (only showing the last 4 digits). I paid my CC bill this way for the last year.
Today I get a call from my bank saying my bill-pay had been returned and that the CC company will not accept it unless it has the full account number on the check. Of course, this has not been a problem for the past 2 years I've used online billpay- and was not a problem for the 6 years before I paid by check and MO.
Any thoughts about this? It seems the CC company, of all people, should know how many people have access to cancelled checks and would encourage customers to protect their account numbers.
And I'm still baffled why they came up with this policy all of a sudden.
\V