Donald G. Campbell, vice chairman of TJX Co., laments the fact that “smart” cards weren’t in use when his company had its unfortunate security breach. In 2006, fraudsters tapped into Marshall’s stores using wireless connections and made off with about 100 million credit and debit card numbers. Campbell estimates that TJX spent $202 million on law suits, security consultants, and other expenses related to the breach. But how much would it cost to make a business truly secure in the United States?

Unlike many European countries, the U.S. doesn’t require cards to have smart technology and additional layers of security such as PINs and microchips. Industry insiders speculate that it would cost billions of dollars to upgrade every credit card and card reader in the U.S. At that price, security breaches sound like a bargain.

But Campbell and a growing number of proponents are in favor of adopting the “chip and PIN” security measures. Since instances of credit card fraud in the United States are still statistically low, it might take a lot more to persuade banks and card companies to upgrade their security. But if major breaches are allowed to continue unchecked, it’s only a matter of time before chip and PIN opponents are convinced.

In the meantime, you can select a smart card for your own personal use. The U.S. General Services Administration offers smart card information at their web site: http://www.smart.gov/.

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Via FW.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher’s Credit Card Deals Blog.

TrueCredit Credit Monitoring for $9.95/Month

Have you ever accidentally paid your credit card bill twice? Or, returned a purchase, resulting in a credit on your bill? Well, if so, it appears that Citi may have been surreptitiously profiting off of you. According to California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., between 1992 and 2003, Citibank’s computer systems utilized an “account sweeping” program that automatically removed any positive balances from customer accounts and deposited them into Citi’s general fund.

As part of the settlement agreement, Citi will pay more than $14 million in refunds to 53,000 affected customers, in addition to $3.5 million in damages and penalties to California. Affected California residents will be paid another 10 percent in interest. Citi has also agreed to never resume the practice again, and undergo a compliance audit to ensure that all parties have been properly refunded.

It should be noted that all of the affected accounts were in a recovery status, which includes accounts where the owner was deceased, seeking bankruptcy protection, or otherwise involved in litigation or collections with Citibank. According to Brown, “”The company knowingly stole from its customers, mostly poor people and the recently deceased, when it designed and implemented the sweeps.”

According to Citi, it has already begun the task of identifying victims and processing refunds.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher’s Credit Card Deals Blog.

Was Citi Stealing From You?