Check your credit card terms

I was reading Ellen Roseman's blog and saw mention that a reader's new Visa cardholder agreement says that the cardholder is liable for “unauthorized purchases made until loss or theft of the card is reported.”

I had my card compromised once, and didn't know it until I was called by customer service. (I would have noticed only when the statement arrived, how many dollars later.)

Ellen Roseman's reader's (partial) solution is to lower their credit limit. That has its own problems (see next posting), but I thought I should pass on this change. (As part of our goal of educating consumers.)

The blog is at http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=235 ; the entry is by JH, Nov. 10/08.