While the new Private Payments offered by American Express is more of a service than a gadget, it is a new unique attempt to make online shopping secure. Private Payments, a new type of disposable credit card, is the American Express answer for those who still feel uncomfortable using their credit card number online. It is a free service for American Express cardholders.
If you have an American Express card, simply sign up for Private Payments at the American Express Web site and download the special software. When you are ready to make an online purchase, American Express will instantly issue a limited life transaction number that can be used online instead of an actual American Express credit card number.
American Express tracks the transactions, records, and bills your purchases directly to your actual American Express Card account. Private Payments purchases are subject to the same spending limits that apply to your regular card. They also have the same benefits like membership rewards and purchase protection that you enjoy with your plastic card purchases. To use this new plan effectively, you should use a new payment number for each purchase. Private Payments numbers have a limited life. Depending on the time of the month issued, they are good for only 30-67 days.
American Express feels this provides enough time for merchants to process and fulfill orders, but reduces the chance of fraudulent use by limiting the amount of time that the number can be used. Also, because the actual credit card number is never revealed to a merchant in a Private Payments transaction, the possibility of your actual card number being stolen or misused is reduced.
I tried out Private Payments and found that there are several ways to use this service, some quick and easy, others slightly cumbersome. Here are the different approaches:
1. If you have an American Express Blue card and a Smart Card Reader, you can simply insert your blue card into the reader. (The card readers are free to Blue Card members until 12-31-2000 and can be ordered at the Blue Web site). When you reach the checkout of an online merchant who accepts American Express, the Smart Card login screen will appear automatically.
2. If you don't have a Blue card or reader, you can still use Private Payments. As long as you have installed the software, the Private Payments login screen will automatically appear at many, but not all, of the Web sites that accept American Express.
3. If the Private Payments screen does not appear automatically, you simply click on the 
in the system tray on the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.
4. If you are not at your own computer, you can go to the Private Payments page on the American Express Web site and click the Request New Number button.
Depending on the circumstances, the Private Payments number and expiration date may be filled in automatically, or a pop-up window will appear. You may have to drag the Private Payments number from the AmEx window to the merchant's payment page. You may also have to transfer (cut and paste or retype) the expiration date from the AmEx window into the payment page.
If you have more than one American Express card, say a personal card and a business card, you can enroll each of them. When the Private Payments screen pops up, you choose which card you want to use. It is also easy to review transactions and view historical data at the AmEx Web site. Be aware that American Express warns Private Payments is best utilized through a non-AOL browser (i.e. Netscape and Internet Explorer).
Discover Card also now offers its customers single-use credit card numbers for online purchases. Discover Card's program is slightly different in that the disposable numbers do not expire, so, unlike the AmEx numbers, they can be used by a single merchant for reoccurring payments. To use Discover's new service, called the "The Deskshop Virtual Credit Card," you simply sign up at the Discover Card Web site and download their software. Discover's program creates a wallet on your computer which offers one-click shopping at participating Web sites. Unlike other digital wallets, no account numbers or passwords are stored in the wallet, which makes shopping safer. One nice feature of the Discover program is when you reach a merchant's purchase page, the entire purchasing form is automatically filled in.
While these new disposable credit cards provide an added amount of shopping safety, they may not be the all inclusive security answer we are seeking. If you are a bit apprehensive about online security, these disposable cards may be worth the effort. The problem is they require some effort on the part of the user. They won't become wildly popular until Smart Card Readers become a part of the average personal computer or the disposable card numbers themselves morph into something completely seamless and easy to use.
