topic Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe in Credit Cards

BofA canceling ShopSafe

gdale6 — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:57:04 GMT

Hi all,

Just recd this email, not real happy about it, use it all the time for online shopping.

We're committed to providing you the most up-to-date security. As new technology has become available, we have made the decision to retire our online ShopSafe® service on September 20. You may need to update credit card information stored with online merchants.

What is changing?

We remain committed to providing the highest level of security when you transact online with your Bank of America® credit or debit card, and we’re always looking for ways to improve your digital banking experience. On September 20, we are discontinuing our online ShopSafe® service. After this date, you will no longer be able to use this service to create new ShopSafe virtual credit card numbers or make purchases online with saved ShopSafe virtual credit card numbers.

Why the change?

Technology has come a long way since we launched ShopSafe. We believe the wide range of security alerts and best-in-class fraud tools we use today, combined with the availability of digital wallets, provide our customers with an enhanced level of protection and a better user experience.

What do I need to do?

Consider using a digital wallet. Bank of America supports a number of digital wallets that enable you to securely shop online without having to share your credit card account number with merchants. More information on digital wallets.

If you have ShopSafe card numbers saved with online merchants or linked to recurring bill payments, please update with your current credit or debit card information prior to September 20.

Thank you for banking with us.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

creditfan — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:18:46 GMT

use citibank card as an alternative

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

VPExecutive — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 22:41:28 GMT

Bank of America provides next day reimbursement of fraudulently used funds (when not caught beforehand). This really isn't a big loss.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Loquat — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 02:07:25 GMT

Sucks that this feature is going away. I know most probably don't know about it or use it but I actually used it enough to miss it now that it's going away. It was never a fraud prevention tool for me but rather a tool for trial subscriptions or things of such.

It was nice to generate a one time use number for various credit scoring sites, magazines, or really anything that you didn't want to have to worry about going back to cancel. Usually when the merchant would attempt to charge the card and it declined, most, not all, would end the trial or subscription at that point. Some things are really easy to cancel and others make you jump through hoops and this was one of the methods used to deal with those who wanted to play games when it came time to wanting to cancel.

Thankfully Citi still has it and I hope that they don't get rid of the feature.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

brandonm — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 04:21:42 GMT

Not exactly apples to apples, but look into Privacy (https://privacy.com). You link the account with your checking account, and they'll give you as many "debit card" numbers as you want, with the option to put plenty of restrictions on each number should you choose.

It doesn't really help with credit card rewards earning, but I believe they're working on adding credit card funding to the privacy account.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:41:31 GMT

Bummer. Shopsafe is one of the few perks I took advantage of on my BoFA cards. It definitely makes it safer to use the card online.

Yes, fraud protection is a good thing, but Shopsafe is more secure since you have control over it. Fraudsters can run up your card and get away with it, even if you're not responsible for the charges.

They did need to update it since it still requires Flash, but instead they're taking the lazy route and eliminating it.

I was even considering requesting a CLI on my Cash Rewards, but now I won't. I deliberately keep the limit low on this card since I use it in gas pumps and for online purchases, and a lower limit means thieves won't get as far with it before it declines.

Their text notifications are bad too... they don't send them out for 2-3 days. By then a thief has taken the money and is long gone. There's no option to lock the card either.

Guess I'll stick with Chase now.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 13:11:17 GMT

@brandonm wrote:
Not exactly apples to apples, but look into Privacy (https://privacy.com). You link the account with your checking account, and they'll give you as many "debit card" numbers as you want, with the option to put plenty of restrictions on each number should you choose.

It doesn't really help with credit card rewards earning, but I believe they're working on adding credit card funding to the privacy account.

Yeah let’s give our checking account info to a site that’s no doubt a heavy target for hackers.

Get a Capital One card and use the Eno browser extension.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

yfan — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 14:11:19 GMT

Seems to me that this is about a transition to/push for digital wallets, which add tokenization, essentially fulfilling the purpose of keeping the actual card number hidden from payees. In the US, mobile pay and contactless payments lag badly behind other countries, and banks may be trying to shore them up - I say this because this move comes on the heels of BofA beginning to replace existing cards with contactless ones.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 14:17:49 GMT

@yfan wrote:
Seems to me that this is about a transition to/push for digital wallets, which add tokenization, essentially fulfilling the purpose of keeping the actual card number hidden from payees. In the US, mobile pay and contactless payments lag badly behind other countries, and banks may be trying to shore them up - I say this because this move comes on the heels of BofA beginning to replace existing cards with contactless ones.

Except that does zero for online shopping which is exactly what these virtual cards safeguard. Tokenization is a wonderful thing but it hasn’t taken off at all in the online world. There is still a need for actual credit card numbers.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 16:52:18 GMT

Since I have no BoA cards and am not familiar with this feature that's being eliminated in the near future, can some give me a brief rundown of how it worked?

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

yfan — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 16:59:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@yfan wrote:
Seems to me that this is about a transition to/push for digital wallets, which add tokenization, essentially fulfilling the purpose of keeping the actual card number hidden from payees. In the US, mobile pay and contactless payments lag badly behind other countries, and banks may be trying to shore them up - I say this because this move comes on the heels of BofA beginning to replace existing cards with contactless ones.
Except that does zero for online shopping which is exactly what these virtual cards safeguard. Tokenization is a wonderful thing but it hasn’t taken off at all in the online world. There is still a need for actual credit card numbers.

Actually, digital wallet services like Google Pay, Paypal and Apple Pay (or less commonly used ones like Visa Checkout) do not transmit your original credit card information to merchants. The problem is, though, that while digital wallet acceptance is growing, it is still wanting and very inconsistent across the web.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:20:52 GMT

@yfan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@yfan wrote:
Seems to me that this is about a transition to/push for digital wallets, which add tokenization, essentially fulfilling the purpose of keeping the actual card number hidden from payees. In the US, mobile pay and contactless payments lag badly behind other countries, and banks may be trying to shore them up - I say this because this move comes on the heels of BofA beginning to replace existing cards with contactless ones.
Except that does zero for online shopping which is exactly what these virtual cards safeguard. Tokenization is a wonderful thing but it hasn’t taken off at all in the online world. There is still a need for actual credit card numbers.
Actually, digital wallet services like Google Pay, Paypal and Apple Pay (or less commonly used ones like Visa Checkout) do not transmit your original credit card information to merchants. The problem is, though, that while digital wallet acceptance is growing, it is still wanting and very inconsistent across the web.

Is that not what I just said? How do you think I am going to know what tokenization is and not know how it works? My point is that using mobile wallets online is not very widespread which means there is still a place for services that offer virtual card numbers for the millions of sites that don’t take a mobile wallet for payment.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 18:58:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Since I have no BoA cards and am not familiar with this feature that's being eliminated in the near future, can some give me a brief rundown of how it worked?

It let you create virtual card numbers with user definable spending limits and expiration dates to use for online purchases where you have to specify a CC #. The purchases would go on your BoA card, but would be constrained to the limits you set. You could also close a number at any time or just let it expire, or set up a number for recurring charges.

The benefit of course is you didn't have to share your real CC # on websites that might have questionable security. If a breach happens, they would only get the virtual card # which either wouldn't work at all or would only work for a short time/small amount.

Tokenization, which is how chips and tap work, are fine for card-present transactions, but for online it doesn't work. Online wallets get around this, but many sites don't support them, or only support certain ones like Apple Pay.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

gdale6 — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 22:14:20 GMT

Thanks for all the suggestions guys and gals, will just use the real card numbers, I dont store cards on any websites anymore and when I stopped doing this I stopped getting hit by thieves. It was just an additional level of security.

Re: BofA canceling ShopSafe

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 05:58:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The benefit of course is you didn't have to share your real CC # on websites that might have questionable security. If a breach happens, they would only get the virtual card # which either wouldn't work at all or would only work for a short time/small amount.

I know some of these virtual number services also had a rule/feature/limitation that the first merchant to use that number would be the only one who could use it. Maybe Citi's did that, I can't recall exactly. Not even sure if it still does such. This was pretty safe, such that even if a merchant lost the number, someone else couldn't use it.

Which really just saved you from then calling the credit card bank to dispute the charge, or more like today, clicking something to dispute a charge.