Now we have another big brother watching us when we apply for mc and visa. This database has been in existence since 1989. I only found out about it this month. had no idea it existed. I thought there was no war a bank would know if I had applied for a card if it did not show on my credit bureau. This is a catch all program that will show them every single time you have applied for a visa or mc. This ought to be illegal. Now they have the Big 4 instead of the big 3. It is not a well known fact about ICS. Visa and MC banks keep this info hush hush.
You are very right....GOOD CALL! From www.senate.gov..... "Issuers' Clearinghouse Service (ICS) A bank card application verification system shared by Visa with MasterCard. ICS verifies an applicant's address, phone and Social Security numbers, and whether he or she has a history of excessive applications or credit card fraud or abuse. ICS is a mandated service for U.S. card issuers that are Visa members. " It looks like ICS might be broken down in a few software applications named 'Falcon' and/or 'CRIS'. Here are some links..... (note, it is actually called Issuers Clearinghouse Service if you do a search) http://www.totalsystem.com/solution/products/productsheets/ace.cfm http://www.cscu.net/ (lots of good info on this site, check out the .pdf newsletters) Hope this helps! Shawn
