The US has been the target of some recent credit card mishaps. In South Bay near Santa Cruz businesses and their consumers had to find ways of paying for merchandise without their credit cards. Vandals cut fibre optic cables. These cables were to cell phone towers, internet service, ATM’s, and credit card machines in the businesses.
It is unknown who was responsible for the cutting of the cables, but it begs the question what were they thinking? Certainly they had to send consumers into a spin without the use of plastic. For individuals who don’t have the cash to buy goods it was a struggle. Others turned to their cheques in order to pay for goods.
There are still some protocols in place that businesses can use, but consumers do not feel safe with these methods. Walking into a business and paying with credit cards means leaving all pertinent data behind. The entire credit card number, zip code, and their name and address would have had to be left behind. This way when the machines are fixed the credit cards could be run. It is an old way of doing things, which opens up the problem of identity theft.
Thu, Apr 16, 2009
General