American Express is about to introduce a new product designed to reduce credit card fraud. American Express is close to releasing a product, Private Payments, which will be available within the next month to holders of AmEx's consumer and small business cards. Each time they shop online, Private Payments generates a unique, random number that is used in place of an account number. The number expires after each transaction and cannot be used if stolen. American Express says Private Payments can give consumers peace of mind.
Online merchants have the most to gain.
The current measure of credit card sales legitimacy is a signature on the charge voucher. With the AmEx Private Payments process, only the authorized card holder will be able to use the assigned number and that number can only be used once. Inc. All rights reserved.