Pornography connoisseurs are likely to use the service because some online porn operators have been known to sell their customers' card numbers or to repeatedly add charges to customers' cards. Disposable card numbers that can be used only once will deter these unscrupulous businesses. Visa's Buxx card and American Express's Cobaltcard look like credit cards and are targeted at teen-agers. They can be used just like credit cards for many retail purchases, online or in stores, and parents can add value to the cards by transferring money online from a checking account to the stored-value account. With these cards, teens get to act all grown-up and stuff by paying with plastic, while having to live within spending limits.
Parents get to set the budget and they can review purchase information online.
Better online shopping Last year, many shoppers found out the hard way that online retailers don't always deliver as promised. Some online stores were overwhelmed by more business than they could handle, and they didn't do a good job of telling buyers when they would receive their merchandise. Some buyers didn't get their purchases until well after Christmas, which sort of defeats the purpose of holiday shopping. This year, according to Jupiter Communications, online retailers are spending less on advertising and spending more on making sure they have enough inventory and can ship it on time. Finally, the Web allows consumers to reward good online retailers and punish bad ones.