Macy's Credit Card Customers: Important

[Finance Globe]

Just in:

Citi (C), the nation's largest bank, is issuing 3.5 million credit cards to department store customers who didn't request them — a step that consumer groups say raises privacy concerns and could expose consumers to identity theft.
This month, Citi is sending general-purpose MasterCards to Macy's (M) customers with credit card accounts that have been inactive for two to four years. Citi bought those credit card accounts last year.

Citi and Macy's describe the new cards as a way to "replace" inactive Macy's accounts. But the new Citibank MasterCards aren't Macy's branded; they can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Macy's cards can be used only in-store.

Consumer advocates worry that automatically sending cards to consumers — rather than doing so only if they request the cards — could expose consumers to information-stealing scamsters.

"In my view, it's a privacy violation and a customer violation," says Mari Frank, author of Safeguard Your Identity. "Privacy builds trust. Lack of privacy destroys trust."

Cited from USAToday.com
By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY
Released on September 27th, 2007

[Meya]

Hi FG, have you heard anything else about this issue?

[Finance Globe]

No Meya, I haven't. Did they send you one? The real problem lies in that they sent the cards to inactive customers (2-4 years). Can you imagine how many of these customers moved, and have never updated their address?

[Meya]

Now that is the scary part. I did not think about it in this way. This is a very important topic because I recently moved to my new house and the people who stayed here prior to me did not change their mail. I had a big bag full of bank statements, preapprovals, warrants for arrests, cc statements, and every up to date thing you could find. I kept it for 2 months and after that, I sat down and wrote "return to sender" on every letter and dumped it in the mailbox.

About 4 or 5 months ago, a guy came here and asked did he receive any mail and that he was the previous owner, so I left him outside, went to check the mail and there was something there, a credit card. I told him NO (becasue it was a woman's name on it) and returned it to the post-office with "return to sender" on it. Come to find out, it was his exgirlfriend mail where he applied for credit and wanted to damage it. My neighbor told me that he used to always do her entire family like this.

This may not be relevant to the story but it is another reflection of what happens when a theif gets ahold to your background to destroy your credit. So I can imaging how the people who never activated their cards feel. I would have had a guilty contious if I would have given the mail to him.

[pamela2]

hi mike i have had a Macy's card for about 6 months and i have never used it do you think they will send that stuff to me????? i mean i would like to use my card but my credit limit is only 100.00 so if i use online i cant get much and the nearest store is about 120 miles from where i live. so what do you think????? any info will help thanks pamela

[Finance Globe]

Hi Pamela,

It looks like you won't get a new card sent to you since your account has not been inactive for 2-4 years. As far as your credit limit goes, I would wait another 6 months and ask for a CLI if all has been in good standing.

[pamela2]

thanks mike that helped alot because i really dont need another card with a high credit limit because then i would be tempted to use it "alot"

[Finance Globe]

It really looks like Macy's is pushing their MasterCard, and may soon enough do away with their store card. It looks like an effort anyway. This is really a big and irresponsible move for Macy's to reissue these cards in the millions without knowing who will use them, and the risks involved for the consumer after being inactive for 2-4 years.

[hjm331]

I wouldn't mind receiving a Macy's Mastercard because I would be able to use it anywhere instead of only Macy's. However, if they're sending these cards to cardholders who haven't used their cards for quite some time, then it does raise a security concern. They should have some type of security protection questionnaire before activating the card. That would help a lot.

[RivasGlo]

I agree, Citi made a retarded decision. I work at Citi in their collections dept. I handle the CitiMastercards (the ones that replaced the Macy's, Radioshack and others), their retail and gas cards too! ;)

[hjm331]

How do the Macy's Mastercards look like anyway?

[Finance Globe]

Good question. I know nothing about the card, other than from the news source

[ColoNative]

Good question. I know nothing about the card, other than from the news source

It isn't a Macy's MasterCard, it is just a regular Citi MasterCard. This does not make sense because Macy's has a Visa. If they wanted to "repurpose" them they should have just sent the Macy's Visa.

Nordstrom, Sears and Target have done the same thing to people who had not used the store card in a while, I believe they learned their lesson though and do not do it anymore.

[hjm331]

This is pretty funny because this raises a security concern and I'm sitting here wanting one of them

[Attagirl]

Security is not only the issue here. I am concerned with companies selling my information to other companies and then they take it upon themselves to do what they want to in my name. This is no different then joe blow getting my information and signing me up for something.

Who do they think they are, and I think that more consumers need to start fighting these types of practice and laws need to be put in place because I do not believe they have the right to sell my information to anyone. When you sign something with one company (whether active or not), you are not giving them permission to sell your information unless they specifically state that. I have never seen that anywhere. It should be illegal for them to do, and I do believe that there is some in the Fair Debt Act that relates to this type of thing.