There have been several articles in the news lately about your credit card companies using data mining techniques to determine important events in your life that may affect your credit worthiness. Among the things that the card companies can alledgedly ascertain:
Marital Health – Charges to Marriage Counselors, Divorce Attorneys, etc., could indicate marital problems, separation, and even divorce. This would conceivably cut your income into two halves, and hence, their bill might not be paid.
Money Problems – This could be indicated by drastic changes in your spending habits. Suddenly shopping at discount stores instead of the normal affluent retailers you have patronized in the past could indicate the loss of a job, overspending, and other issues related to, again, your ability to pay the bill.
While there are other indicators, such as porn site purchases, dating site purchases, alcoholic beverages, travel, etc., these are two of the most important “indicators” mentioned in most articles. And, honestly, there is food for thought in the reports. However, realistically, with literally millions of people making millions of charges to their card daily, the most likely technique being used, if indeed the card companies are utilizing any of your information, is an alert that is set off whenever your spending habits change drastically and/or purchases from certain establishments. The alert would then trigger a more detailed “review” of your purchases, perhaps by an actual person.
How can you avoid such “data mining” by your normal credit card company? While many of the articles recommend paying by cash or check instead of your credit card, most do not mention a third option that is available to consumers.
Get a prepaid credit card, and use it to make purchases that you don’t want tracked by your normal credit card company! Now, while this may sound a bit extreme to some, to others who actually are going through a difficult period of time, be it financial or marital,or simply for a purchase that you don’t want tracked on your normal credit card (porn sites and dating sites are perfect examples), but requires a credit card, a prepaid credit card could be your answer.