Seriously, when are these banks going to buy themselves a clue?!

If you’re suspicious about a purchase I’m attemtpting to make, and you block my card: call me! Do not hinder me, then make me pay to call you, to find out why. Also, do not just randomly suspend my card for the simple reason that I’m using it to make purchases online! That’s flipping rediculous.

I just tried to book a train ticket with Virgin Trains, something I do regularly, as I have family up North. My card was declined. When I call to find out why, the guy explains that “when someone steals card details, they tend to use them online and go on shopping sprees”, which would be fine if I’d been spending bucks at HMV or something. When Abdul asked me to confirm that I’d payed £5.99 to Microsoft and £x.xx to 123-reg I really got pissed. How is an Xbox Live subscription flagging on my account, when I make the exact same payment *every month?!* and what kind of spending spree is a domain renewal? Seriously…

I honestly don’t think Barlcays have an anti-fraud algorythym, I think they just block cards at random, I really do. When I asked why the hell these payents were flaggng on the syste, Abdul explained that Internet purchases aren’t safe, because there’s no security like there is when I use my card in a shop. Stop right there, dumbass. If I use my card in a shop, someone only has to observe my pin number – then if they steal my card they can use it as much as they want. Not to mention dodgy corner shops double-swiping cards to make clones. However when I use my card online, I have to enter the 3 digit security pin, my full card details and home address, when I get passed those basic details I’m forwarded to a VISA Security page, where I have to enter random characters from a password. Now tell me that shopping online is less safe than shopping with a card irl. Jeeees.

Get a clue. Really.