Sometimes, it pays to be a cynic...

***Rami*** · February 2nd, 2013, 16:13

Hey guys,

My wife tried to talk me into this being a good idea...but after doing some research and calling their customer service number, I slammed the door shut on this fast.

http://www.cumberlandfarms.com/smartpay/

10 cents off per gallon, oh boy! (Says the wife...)

The first question I asked was...what's the catch?

1) In order to participate, the gas station now knows your checking account info. (Um...no!)

2) "But they have an app for your phone!" Okay, great. So if we lose our phone, some meth addict or other unscrupulous individual can use that phone to buy a boatload of gas. (Strike two!)

3) I called their customer service line, and spoke to one of their agents who tried to sell me on this.

Here's some of the questions I asked...

Q: "If I sign up but were to lose my card, is there a twenty-four hour hotline that will allow me to freeze the application to prevent thieves from using the application to buy gas?"

A: No.

Q: "If I put the app on my Smart phone, is there a twenty-four hour hotline that will allow me to freeze the application to prevent thieves from using the application to buy gas?"

A: No.

Q: "Would the application be password-protected, so that way a thief who gets hold of my Smart Phone or my card would be prevented from having access to my bank account for purchasing gas?"

A: No.

Q: "What type of security measures are in place at the pump to prevent thieves from using skimmers, scanners, or other devices to access this information and access to it?"

A: Well, that's up to the individual store manager.

Q: "Is there any way for employees to gather data from the system...and get the account numbers so that they can have access to customer's bank holdings?"

A: "Well, I suppose they could...we hadn't considered that."

When I heard him coughing and sputtering like a Merlin engine nosing over to chase a Messerschmitt, I knew I had my answer!

It just pays to be cautious...identity theft is no joke.

My wife thinks I'm completely nuts...and am being a hard-a*s just to annoy people. Sigh...the price I pay to protect my family.

***Willy*** · February 2nd, 2013, 16:19

I wouldn't have done it either.

***Dangerousdave26*** · February 2nd, 2013, 16:56

Sounds to me like you did the right thing

I am still in the camp of not putting anything personal on the phone that leads to your banking. Its just not secure.

**_486_Col_Wolf** · February 2nd, 2013, 19:21

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I used to carry only credit cards and no cash. Felt safer and I didn't have to carry my 9mm everywhere. But after having 2 accounts hijacked at one store I now carry cash and my 9mm again.

***gigabyte*** · February 3rd, 2013, 05:50

Years ago I decided since my job involved eCommerce and helping our customers use credit cards to buy from us online I had better be prepared to d the same and knowing fully well what the Prourment Card Industry Association has put in place for merchant requirements to accept credit cards I am comfortable now but I was not in the early 90's. What I did then was I went to the Credit Union and opened a seperarte account for online shopping only, I also got a prepaid credit card for that account and when I wanted to shop online I called and made a transfer to the account or credit card (now I do the transfer online mostly). This system has worked very very well for me since I began using it.

Rami I can tell you why they want to use a chequing acct, they are not subject to PCI regulations if they use a direct debit from a chequing acct, if they sign up up using a credit or debit/credit card they must confirm to PCI, which is tough even for large companies like I work for, the assessment audit cost us almost half a million and our security for payment processing cost twice that before the assessment.

It may not be a perfect solution but if you want to take advantage of the discount you could do what I did, open a special on line only account and transfer just enough funds to that acct when you need them, most banks and credit unions offer the 24 hour hotlines to shut down access so if the vendor does not you can shut the tap off at the source so to speak.

I have had luck with this set up so far, I link my Pay Pal to it as well, if someone ever does hack it the most they will likely fund is $20.00 that is all I keep in the acct, I just transfer enough for an online purchase or before I recharge the prepaid C Card.

**CWOJackson** · February 3rd, 2013, 06:12

If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

When he was in his teens my oldest son would have signed up with that kind of scheme very quickly. I had a difficult time getting him to look at "sweet deals" with a critical eye.

One day I offered to pay him twenty dollars if I could break three eggs on his head. He figured it was some sort of trick but I assured him, once I'd broken three eggs over his head I'd give him the twenty I was holding. He finally agreed.

After I broke the second egg over his head I turned and walked away. He was fuming for several days but finally understood the message.