Consumer complaint received 2018-08-20
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Privacy issues

Complaint:
I was having problems with a merchant who took out monthly automatic payments from my credit card. Long story short, they lied about their cancellation terms, and when I went to cancel services, said that I would still be charged, added multiple new charges, and jacked up their rates. I am currently in dispute with this company. 

I spoke with the fraud department of my credit card company, Capital One, about what I could do to stop these charges. They told me that there was nothing I could do, because they were unable to block charges from this company. They advised me that the best way to handle this situation was to have Capital One cancel my current card, and issue me a new one. 

I received my new card on XX/XX/XXXX, and on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX I had it activated. I then went to my XXXX account to update my card info there, only to find that somehow it had already been updated! I have had a lot of problems with fraud in the past, having to change my credit card number eight times in the past year, and was afraid that my Capital One account and also my XXXX account had been hacked. 

Immediately, I called XXXX. They told me this was nothing to worry about, because they have agreements with certain banks so that if their customers update their card info with their bank, the bank automatically sends XXXX the information, too. 

This was very concerning to me. Capital One never informed me that they do this. 

I called Capital One, and was given the run-around for ten hours! 

I was transferred and transferred and transferred. No one could understand my concerns. They never heard of something like this happening before. They are not authorized to give out my card number to anyone. Finally, they told me Mastercard must have done it, and gave me a number to call Mastercard. 

I called Mastercard. They, too, had no idea what I was talking about. They told me they do not save any information, so therefore could not give out my new card information to anyone. It must have been Capital One. 

I called Capital One again, and was told multiple times that they don't know why Mastercard is lying to me, because they must have given out the information. Finally, someone at Capital One 's fraud department told me that this was not fraud, or a hacker who got into my Capital One and XXXX accounts. They said it was a service provided to merchants who consumers have recurring charges with, so that consumers can be provided uninterrupted service when they forget to update their billing information. 

They said they had no list of merchants who paid for this service, and there was no way to tell who my new card information was sent to. 

I told them what Capital One 's fraud department told me before about the merchant I was in dispute with, how my only recourse was to change cards. 

This representative told me that that was not the case, that because of this service and the fact that there is no way to tell what merchants are paying for it, my new card information could very well be sent to the company that I am disputing, and they could therefore fraudulently charge my card. 

I said that no one should have the right to give out my card number except me, how did they do this without my knowledge? Capital One again told me that they do not have authorization to give out my card information, it had to be Mastercard. 

I called Mastercard again, and they told me the same thing as before, that they never heard of such a thing, they don't store my information, and therefore could not have given it out. I had them do a three-way conference call with Capital One, and I had the lady with Mastercard tell the Capital One representative what they told me, that they do not know what Capital One is talking about, and that they do not store or give out card info. The Capital One representative said he didn't know what to tell me, he was always told that it was Mastercard doing this. 

I am XXXX and have an extremely difficult time reading online, particularly long privacy policies and terms of use with all the fine print. So I had my children help me to scour the internet and capitalone.com. 

After several hours, we concluded that it is a service that Mastercard provides to " trusted '' merchants ( merchants who pay them money ) called Automatic Billing Updater. When a consumer changes card information, such as getting a new expiration date or a whole new card number, the information is sent to these merchants. There is no way for me to tell which merchants may be paying for this service. The merchant I am disputing could very well get my new card info, leaving me back at square one. I also decided that I needed a smaller internet footprint, which was another reason for changing this card. I recently closed several of my online accounts due to problems I have had with fraud. Could these people I purchased from in the past also have my new card info? Capital One and Mastercard say they don't know who they send it out to. And another problem, there is no way to guarantee that people Mastercard sends my new card information to won't then give it to someone else. 

A year ago, someone hacked my Capital One card and subscribed to some dating site on XXXX called XXXX, and even though I have changed my credit card number eight times now, this person with this XXXX account somehow has been able to get each card. Are they accomplishing this with the Automatic Billing Updater? There is no way to know. 

We also discovered that Capital One mentions the Automatic Billing Updater nowhere in their privacy policy or terms of service. I called to ask about it, and where to find it in their privacy policy, and they deny even using it, they have no idea what the Automatic Billing Updater is. When I told them they do use it, and they do know what it is, Capital One said that there is no way for me to opt out of it. 

I found that a lot of other banks tell consumers about the Automatic Billing Updater upfront, and give them the option to opt out. I found several news articles saying your bank must opt you out if you ask them. But Capital One tells me they will not. 

I called Mastercard on XX/XX/XXXX and said I wanted to opt out of the Automatic Billing Updater. Suddenly by some miracle they knew exactly what I was talking about, and said they would opt me out. Why couldn't they tell this was what I was talking about yesterday? 

I am livid about how I was given the run around for ten hours, being lied to over and over again, by Capital One and Mastercard, when they all knew perfectly well what I was talking about, and they were trying to hide it. How could they be using a service that the customer service representatives know so little about? How could they be able to give out my card information without my consent? 

I have extreme vestibular problems that cause me to be dizzy constantly. It is aggravated by eye strain and stress, and after a couple hours of this nonsense I had to have my daughter step in and help me deal with these people at Capital One. By the end of the ten hours of going around and around on the phone, I felt so sick I could hardly eat dinner. 

I think customers should be notified of services like this Automatic Billing Updater upfront. I think customers should have to opt-in when they decide they want the service, rather than having to opt-out when they get a surprise because a merchant they didn't want to pay magically got their card info. 

I think there should be a list that I can check of the merchants who use this Automatic Billing Updater, so I can find out who is out there that might have my credit card number. 

I don't like at all how Capital One hid the fact that they use Automatic Billing Updater, and lied to me for ten hours. 

I don't like how Mastercard hid the fact that they offer the Automatic Billing Updater to merchants, can get away with not telling consumers about it, and also lied to me yesterday multiple times. 

Again, it is my credit card, and my credit. Shouldn't I be the only one allowed to give that number out? I consider it a safety issue, too, because last year I purchase a leather bag from a person in XXXX, and then was constantly harassed by him to the point of calling the police. If he were able to get a hold of my new card number now, what do you think he would do? I think a lot of the reason for me having to change my card number eight times is because of this Automatic Billing Updater. 

I don't like how XXXX and whoever else can sign up for a service that gives out my personal information without having to inform me about it. I also can not find in XXXX 's privacy policy or terms of service any mention of the Automatic Billing Updater. 

I don't think that it is correct that Capital One can not opt me out. And I don't think that it is right that they should be able to give out my personal information to whomever will pay them for it. 

It is very creepy that my card information can be given out to whoever at who knows where and Mastercard has no idea who that might be. I have had my XXXX account, for instance, since the XXXX. Who knows what other companies I did business with back then who might now have my current credit card number.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation