WIRED 2.03 Electric Word

Credit Card Abuse Made Even Simpler

If you use Quicken for your personal finances and you're tired of
typing your credit card charges into your computer at the end of
every month, the folks at Intuit (Quicken's publisher) have a new
product that they would like to sell you: a Visa card with an
electronic monthly statement.

It works like this: At the end of each month, Primerica Bank, the
card's backer, sends each Intellicharge customer a traditional
monthly statement. A few days later, you'll get a floppy disk in
the mail containing the electronic version of your statement. Pop
it into the disk drive, then tell Quicken you want to reconcile
your statement. Quicken will read the charges off the floppy
(automatically matching up the ones you've already typed), mark
the charges as "cleared," then give you the option of paying the
minimum payment, the full statement balance, or a value of your
choice.

Intuit says that the Primerica Visa has "no annual fee," but after
the first six months you'll be charged US$4.50 a month for "electronic
statement delivery." If you choose, you can avoid the floppy disk
and get the statement by modem for only $3.

My advice? Take Intuit's six-month free ride, then decide whether
the monthly fee is worth the time you'll save entering the charges
manually. Quicken: US$69.95. Intuit: (800) 624 9060, +1 (415) 322
0573.

 - Simson L. Garfinkel


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Transmitted:  94-04-18 22:01:47 EDT