8 Jan 2021

A couple of days ago, the Finance Manager (aka my husband) noticed a suspicious credit card transaction appearing in our online bank account.

There was, of course, the expected water boarding and other usual interrogation techniques where he attempted to ascertain how I could have managed to spend $700 in Japan.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m a proficient online shopper, but even I would find spending $700 online difficult without submitting the usual approval form in triplicate to the accounts dept.

Disappointed that the matchsticks under my fingernails were not eliciting the required response, he turned his attention to the bank itself.

Banks being banks, of course they can look into that particular transaction, but before they can do that, kind sir, we need to cancel your credit card and issue you another one.

Of course. Not a problem. That won’t cause too many issues. Go ahead.

Do you have any idea how many companies have my credit card details on file? All those super convenient “pay automatically online” bills, the telephone apps that allow me to conveniently pay for parking without searching under the seats in the car for stray coins, and yes one or two online shopping setups….

I had previously enjoyed the horror the Finance Manager expresses each time he remembers that I know my credit card number off by heart. Including expiry date and CCV number. I don’t need to rush for my purse when ordering online! No way – those 23 digits are firmly positioned in my memory bank and can be deployed at speed.

I now have 23 new digits to commit to memory, with our new card number available to us, even if the actual card will take a few days to enter my hot little hands.

But do you know, I’ve done around ten or so “change my payment details” online this morning, and I think I’ve pretty much got it locked in my brain.

I might give it a whirl with a spot of online shopping and see how I go.

Purely in the interests of exercising my brain, you understand!