When is it too much info? Just got off the phone paying a dental bill and receptionist asked for expiration, 3 digit code, house address, zip code. I remember when it used to be just the number and expiration date. Never been burned before but I’m always leary of giving too much information to strangers, particularly over the phone. Are the credit card companies asking for this or are they just going overboard? I did get her name, perhaps I should have asked for her last name, last 4 of her social and where she was born.
The transaction is ‘card not present’, same as if you were buying something online. The ‘card not present’ means the merchant is risking easy chargeback – if there is no signature you can call the card issuer, tell them you did not make the transaction and they will charge it back for you.
The processors allow merchants to charge with card number and expiration only, but it usually costs more and the risk is higher. They ask you for address, but the address verification system (AVS) cares about the numeric part only, i.e. the street number and the zip code. The textual part is irrelevant (merchants might have additional layer of protection where street name and number are matched against the zip code, but that is not common).
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