Credit Limits for Security
The Consumerist has become part of my daily security reading. Frauds are often apparent to the consumer before they are apparent to the business that was compromised.
A common consumer complaint is the enormous bill for services. The $50,000 cell phone bill, or the $6500 bill for Internet services.
Attempting to collect on such accounts is not likely to succeed for very long. Even if the business succeeds in the courts the consumers will ultimately prevail in Congress. And in the process large numbers of customers will refuse to open an account at all because they are worried that they might be subjected to a similar punitive bill.
Assuming that allowing consumers to run up such bills is not intentional on the part of the business, shouldn't per-account credit limits be a standard business practice? In addition to avoiding unpleasant public relations disasters, companies might find that they uncover frauds more quickly than they might otherwise.
And it would certainly help make consumers more confident when they open an account.
