I have to admit that I sometimes find the invisible ability of banks (and credit card companies) to track our movements a little spooky. One time I used my "emergency" credit card to buy a pair of shoes, in my own city even. There was a message from the bank by the time I got home asking me to call and verify that the purchase was legit. Apparently even the bank's algorithms twigged to the fact that my need for pretty shoes does not, in fact, qualify as an emergency. Apparently it was in my best interest (and theirs) to ensure the safety of my credit.
AHC got a call this morning from our bank saying they suspected his debit card has been hacked and that his account was frozen. In a bizarre bit of luck, I happened to have made a number of large payments via online banking yesterday. One effect of this was that we inadvertently contravened a rule, imposed by the bank, about daily spending limits from the account which we share. AHC tried to make a purchase which failed to be authorized because we had exceeded the spending limit (unbeknownst to him), in spite of the fact that sufficient funds were there. (One can discuss the legitimacy of the banks controlling how much money I want to spend in a day via electronic regulation, but that's for another time.)
The other effect was, of course, saving us from having nearly $1,000 stolen from our account. The daily-limit rule prevented the PIN-thief from getting the money because the bank overruled the withdrawl in spite of the availability of the funds. And their magic algorithms alerted the bank to the unusual pattern of activity which resulted in the freeze on the account.
All that to say, I still have a love-have relationship with the bank. And I'm totallyawed by the computations that must be behind all of it.
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I had a similar issue I suppose happen to me a few years ago. It involved a credit card through my bank in 2004. While in England my credit card info was stolen (not the card itself) through some fancy scanning technology implated in a bank machine. My 'card' was used to take out $1000 CAD, or £400. After a lot of international phone calls back to Canada, my bank and Visa, it got sorted out and I wasn't liable to pick up the tab that wasn't mine. Scary stuff though. Being such a frequent traveller though, I have had my cards frozen temporarily on 2 other occasions due to being in too many countries in a short period of time as well. Guess it's not bad enough that the banks and credit card companies know what I'm doing when I'm doing it, they want to know ahead of time so they can anticipate it ;)
LG
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