Take a look at getsmart.com when you get a chance. There is a free "service" called Daily View where you can give getsmart.com the logon and password information from all of your CC and bank accounts and it will present you with account information on all of your accounts on one page. XML is a scarry thing.
I've noticed more reputablle sites beginning to offer the same...Chase, Wells Fargo and the like. The object is to keep you at their site, even if you don't hold all of your accounts there. Hope
I almost don't mind giving them codes for my other CC accounts, but they can also support deposit accounts. That's scarry to me. Getsmart.com is Providian, right? Say I stop making my providian payments. Who's to stop them from just going to the online bill pay feature of my bank account and paying themselves. Even the other credit card accounts -- If Providian knew how much more credit they were extending to me compared to all of my other card issuers (My providian limits are more than all of my other accounts combined) maybe they wouldn't be so willing to increase my credit limits in the future. Another thing -- their privacy policy says they will not give out your information unless they are sold or merge or if they are forced to by a court or government agency. Now, whoever can convince a judge they should have access to my financial data only has to look in one place. I know all of this will be commonplace soon. I even know that I really shouldn't worry about this. It's just eerie.
Maybe you're view is not so far-fetched. I see your point. As my Big Mamma used to say, "be afraid...be very afraid." Hope
agreed it's very spooky. But I've already seen this new wave on Nextcard. When you hit balance transfer you can either put your other account info in or you can let it show you your other accounts. I'm guessing that the GetSmart stuff needs you input, right? They don't just have all your info... right?
I think Nextcard gets the info from your credit reports. This service has you store your logon and password information for the other websites and gets the data in real time.
Oh. I'd NEVER do that. What a hacker's dream Or how about inside selling of our id's and codes... I can see the headlines now "Providian Reps arrested for selling customers lives". And you're right. Not only too much info to give your credit card company but it's also Way too much access. I don't even do automatic payments for this very reason (that and a nice screwup can wipe your checking account). Perhaps I'm too cautious, but that's just WAY too much Little Brother for me.
Marie: You know I can appreciate your concern, but I believe you may be worrying about hackers and theft a bit too muchâ?¦ Granted being cautious of allowing creditor/CRA open access is one thing, which I agree with. Albeit encryption schemas have gotten VERY tight as of late, so theft and hacking becomes less of a problem. Still this stuff does give us all pause to consider the more Orwellian aspects. [;-)
Here's the deal. I use myciti to do that. Never had a hitch. They do encrypt the passwords during transit, btw. If you can't trust the security of citibank then who can you trust?
Well, even if I don't have hackers to fear, I certainly wouldn't want to give any of my credit card companies the POTENTIAL to have that kind of access. Bad eggs inside credit card companies do happen... and even if my info is safe, I still think there may be some ulterior motive... just wait...
Do you know what would actually be scary? If Providian forced us to partake in this new service as a provision to our credit card agreement. Now that would be frightening!
I'd just tell them I have no other cards but them... my credit reports are all wrong... no, I really don't have any others... confused file... what could they do?
Folks- it's not Citi or Chase or BankOne or NextCard or Providian who provide this service -- they all OFFER it - the actual service itself is by a company called Yodlee. It's not a bad thing if you want everything on one page (including Frequent program summaries for us travelers out there). The banks don't get "Access" to the information - Yodlee goes out every night and gets your info and it's then presented to you on one page. It's kinda cool- but also a little scary, so you have to feel good about Yodlee before you take the plunge. I use Paytrust to scan my bills... so I have some level of trust for this kind of thing. Personal info is widely available - there aren't too many things you can keep secret anymore , so instead of fighting it, I take as much advantage of it as I can. -mj
