Good Online Credit Card

March 17, 2006 7:05 PM

Good credit card for internet purchases

After a thankfully tiny bout of fraud, Mrs. Plinth and I would like to have a specific card to use for Internet purchases. I'm looking for suggestions to help keep things reasonably safe and secure. Any card recommendations and procedural suggestions are welcome (like a tight cash limit, etc). Interest rate is not so much a concern as we pay off each month.

posted by plinth to work & money (9 comments total)

AMEX has always seemed like a trustworthy card.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:13 PM on March 17, 2006

I use discover and mastercard, but I always use their virtual number option. That way, the seller doesn't ever have access to your real number.
posted by clarkstonian at 7:14 PM on March 17, 2006

I don't like MBNA because I get the impression they're among the more thieving and predatory issuers of credit cards I've held. And yet I don't cancel my account with them because they offer a "ShopSafe" program. It lets you generate a new credit card number, which draws on your account just like your actual number, but you can also set expenditure limits and the expiration date. This is fabulous for making purchases from an online source you don't trust yet.
posted by weston at 7:19 PM on March 17, 2006

I won't use anything but AMEX for internet stuff. It always seems like they're on my side in any given situation.

Example of AMEX awesomeness:
Last week my iPod died (three months after the warranty expired). AMEX refunded me 100% of the purchase price.

It doesn't get much more awesome than that.
posted by popechunk at 7:24 PM on March 17, 2006

I once got screwed by that terrible site cheaptickets.com - they advertised a flight (LAX-CDG for $650) which I bought, then they emailed me to say the seat was no longer available, and then claimed that it would take 3 months (standard procedure!) to issue a refund. Citibank stepped in and the refund was issued within a week, so I feel pretty secure using them.
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 11:33 PM on March 17, 2006

then claimed that it would take 3 months (standard procedure!) to issue a refund

That is a popular scam, since by that time, you will no longer be able to dispute the charge with the credit card company if something goes wrong.
posted by grouse at 2:19 AM on March 18, 2006

I like the Citibank dividend (cashback) card. The online interface is good and you can create unlimited "virutal accounts" that have a user-specified limit and expiration date. Citibank has already proven to be very helpful in the case of an internet merchant who never issued a promised refund (Citi just credited the money back to the card and that was that).
posted by rxrfrx at 6:10 AM on March 18, 2006

agreed, i also recommend citicards because they have better customer service and its international. stay away from MBNA , some ppl have hard time getting their rewards points. and if they close the acc, you cant get it no matter what. even if you have 30,000 points there...

check this site for easy comparison, and the design is really awesome.

http://www.creditme.com/credit-cards/citibank
posted by jimkim at 11:14 PM on December 11, 2006 [1 favorite]

sorry the link didnot work, here it is.

CitiCards
posted by jimkim at 11:15 PM on December 11, 2006