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0 pointsPeterStuer1y ago0 comments

"You can't see who's got recurring subscriptions on your account. You can't trivially cancel or block someone from pulling money from your account"

This is because any company that has the potential for creating recurring subscriptions can do so to anyone at any time with nothing but an account number.

There is no pre-verification of authorization whatsoever. The only thing you can do is continuously monitor your bank statements and dispute the charges when you see something turn up, then hope for the best.

This system is croocked by design. Most people can't even believe it is this way , but presentations by budding fintech to small companies tout this 'feature' as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

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vel0city1y ago

> There is no pre-verification of authorization whatsoever.

There actually is a way they can sync up to say this is an authorized regular transaction and they get the ability to keep charging even when the old number expires and a new card gets issued.

I forget what it's called, and I don't believe it's supported everywhere.

reginald781y ago

This "feature" pisses me off. I was going to switch to capital one virtual cards but from reading around it seems that these two can be updated and even have spending limits overridden in the case of subscription services. Since protection from overcharging is the main draw that product had it seems like a useless feature once I read the details. They bill it as a benefit but with the possible exception of my life insurance I'd much prefer it the other way.

vel0city1y ago

It seems to me this feature should just come disabled for virtual cards, as that's the whole point of virtual numbers.

Personally though in a lifestyle with like a dozen regular recurring credit transactions I'm not likely to cancel on a whim or forget (electricity, gas, daycare, insurance, internet, etc.) I'm fine most of these entities getting a more stable identifier for billing but I do agree it would be better to be opt-in on the cardholder side.

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vel0city1y ago

> There is no pre-verification of authorization whatsoever.

There actually is a way they can sync up to say this is an authorized regular transaction and they get the ability to keep charging even when the old number expires and a new card gets issued.

I forget what it's called, and I don't believe it's supported everywhere.

reginald781y ago

vel0city1y ago

It seems to me this feature should just come disabled for virtual cards, as that's the whole point of virtual numbers.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse