[mnisjk2]

Hi all - I’m one of the founders at Privacy. I’d like to provide more context on why we’re asking customers to reissue cards.

In an attempt to stay current with changes in card network and bank requirements, we spent the better part of this year investigating product adjustments and determined that changing our cards from prepaid debit to charge cards is the best option to preserve the customer experience. I recognize reissuing cards can be a pretty big inconvenience - this isn’t a decision we took lightly. The silver lining is that this should improve merchant acceptance and provide a better overall customer experience.

Functionally, cards will continue to operate exactly as they always have - no fees, no interest, no selling of your data, and no impact to your credit score.

[fragmede]

Why force the change onto customers though? Most people understand the difference between a debit card and a credit card, and as someone who's had Privacy.com cards denied because it was a prepaid MC debit card and not a real CC, I've experienced what the problem was. But for merchants where the prepaid debit card works, why can I not continue using that card number there?

Privacy.com is a wonderful service, but it already automatically locks to the first merchant the card is used on. If it's already working for that merchant, Why do I have to change the card number? Use the credit card updater mechanism (the same mechanism for when a CC gets stolen but my Netflix keeps working and they get the new number somehow) for all merchants that support that - that should keep the customer load down.

[rachel_lithic]

I hear you on this. We’re really sorry for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, this wasn’t fully within our control. To stay compliant with our bank partner’s requirements and network rules we were forced to make this change to existing Visa cards too.

We did explore the card updater[1] and were hoping to be able to use it. Unfortunately it’s not a viable option due to technical limitations. If we could do the updating for you we absolutely would! If you have questions or there's anything we can help with, please reach out to [e-mail]

[1] https://developer.visa.com/capabilities/vau

[prophesi]

> but it already automatically locks to the first merchant the card is used on.

Just a minor correction: I'm able to use the same Privacy card for x merchant for any number of y merchants, so long as it stays under the charge limit I've set for that card.

[AdamJacobMuller]

Hi Jason,

I posted this here originally, and wow this blew up, I think we've actually spoken over email as I was one of the earliest users of privacy. I've been using it for many years and abjectly love the service.

I don't object to you reissuing cards. Like I mentioned in my other comment, I actually see a lot of positives (no more prepaid issues!), however, only giving people 30 days to update their cards in dozens (I literally have 81 open privacy cards) is "not fun" and up until now, using your service has been smooth, painless and something which this change (mostly the timing of it) just completely deflated.

I updated like 4 or 5 cards so far, each one took me 5-10 minutes, on the outside I'm looking at (worst case) 13 hours of work I have to fit into the month of December (which with the holidays and year end biz items, is already the busiest).

Yesterday, your service was just a dream to use, today it is a burden I have to find hours of time to fix.

Sorry, I do truly love privacy and didn't post this to hurt you or privacy, but I hope you can extend the deadline.

Best of luck to you and all of the privacy team.

[nikolay]

I have hundreds of cards! Why are you forcing me to do this?! I have no time! Honestly, I'd probably just move to my main card, which almost never changes! Tomorrow you may decide to do something again! I really don't have time to babysit this! You should grandfather all cards and allow customers to change them if they want, otherwise, they should be valid till their expiration date! You're asking us to do a lot of work during the holiday season - this is crazy, really!

[neverendingsigh]

I don't quite have hundreds of Privacy cards, but I have quite a few, and many for subscription services. Though I understand and welcome the core reason for the change, forcing users to do this migration in December—of all months—really necessitates a grim view of the value of our time and energy.

The pre-paid debit product was limited, but far from broken. This could and should have waited another month. And the news shouldn't break on HN.

[boling11]

(I work at Privacy.com)

I'm super sorry for the inconvenience and for the limited lead time. Unfortunately, this change wasn’t fully within our control and was required by our card partners.

[resonious]

FWIW, Privacy cards, like all credit cards, have expiration dates so you'd have to refresh all your cards eventually anyway.

What I'm wondering is: why am I hearing about this over HN and not an official notification or email? Did I just miss it?

[ezekg]

I agree with this. Not having to fiddle with changing cards was the main selling point that made me switch to Privacy, after my debit card was canceled 2 times in a month for “fraud” (it wasn’t -- they were legit purchases). I also have over a hundred cards, and subscribe to the paid plan. This is a huge inconvenience, especially given the short timeline and holidays. I wish this was handled better for older virtual cards.

Also, I haven’t received any email about this change.

[jrochkind1]

My main card changes all the time because it keeps getting somehow obtained by fraudsters, and then cancelled. I checked and this is true these days of many of my friends too.

It's definitely inconvenient when it does, especially when that involves updating a bunch of different accounts/vendors.

[naikrovek]

> I have hundreds of cards!

oh yeah, well I have 167 bajillion!*

*I really don't; I do wonder what you're doing with hundreds of monthly payments though.

[niij]

I didn't get an email about this, disappointing to find out first on HN. I assume there will be plenty of customers who just "miss" this and find out the hard way next month. Also 1 month notice during the holidays is really bad timing when you've had it available since early october.

[chuckdotis]

It it possible to continue using Privacy.com without providing an SSN?

As I commented in a thread below, I had started using your service connected to a debit card via my credit union. Then was required to attach a bank account/routing number as the source for funding and didn't receive an adequate answer as to why (which is fine, but it's slower to process and it requires that I provide more sensitive information). I get that Privacy is obligated to gather certain financial information for regulatory purposes and fraud prevention, but it feels like I'm widening my attack surface providing that info.

[regulatorynerd]

Hi -- I'm the head of legal and compliance for Privacy.com. Unfortunately this is a bank partner requirement, otherwise we wouldn't ask.

We do take customer privacy and security very seriously, and have worked hard to have similar data security safeguards as larger companies like Square and Stripe (both places I've worked, so I would know!). You can read more about some of our security practices here. https://privacy.com/security

[slg]

> I get that Privacy is obligated to gather certain financial information for regulatory purposes and fraud prevention, but it feels like I'm widening my attack surface providing that info.

This feels like a "you always become what you once hated" situation. Privacy.com was supposed to keep our private data private. With this change there is no way to use Privacy.com without providing even more private data.

This really should have been a choice for users. Do you want privacy or better compatibility? Considering Privacy.com's userbase and their freaking name, I would guess many users would choose privacy over that extra functionality.

[technick]

First off let me start with how much I love your platform, I use it religiously. My experience has been great except for a few times it fell short and it's not something forgotten easily. My account has been suspended twice after trying to make purchases (both for under $50 purchases), one of them at a Ft Lauderdale pizza shop and the other was a online merchant. Both times I had to open support tickets and wait over 24 hours for support while I was locked out of my account. It turned out there's a blacklist of merchants that your not allowed to make purchases at but support couldn't give me the blacklist. So it's like a game of russian roulette if my account will get suspended for making purchases. Can you share any information on how this problem has been solved?

I suggested to support that if someone is able to log in, pass 2fa, that should be enough to prove it's not fraudulent. I don't think support ever responded to my suggestions.

Thank You

[d3d1rty]

This is a huge inconvenience, and dressing it up as an "Exciting Update" is Orwellian. I was a paying subscriber, but I'll be cancelling my subscription now.

[sillysaurusx]

I'd like to thank privacy.com for making this change.

It sounds like most people aren't aware, but recently merchants have been coming down hard on privacy.com. I've almost given up using it. Hetzner and GCP are the most problematic, but I've seen it elsewhere too.

I'm not happy about having to reissue, but I will be happy if this forces vendors to take my privacy.com card.

(Everyone else is complaining, so I thought I'd at least try to balance it out a little.)

EDIT: Well, never mind. Apparently their new cards are still getting rejected. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29438181

I was really excited...

[bredren]

> In an attempt to stay current with changes in card network and bank requirements

What were the most important changes from the networks in banks that precipitated this?

Requiring an SSN is an important change. Did prior requirements not do enough to prevent abuse of their services?

[Kye]

Is this rolling out slowly, or did I join after this was already implemented for new cards? I see no cards on privacy.com/reissue and haven't gotten any notifications. I signed up in October.

[rachel_lithic]

We rolled this product out to new users in early October, so it's possible you signed up after that change and have been issuing the new card type.

Reach out to our team at [e-mail] and we'll be happy to take a look at your account and confirm.

[edmcnulty101]

Just want to say,I LOVE your service! Thank you all for your hard work and what's been a flawless user experience up to this point.

I've been with y'all since the very early days.

I have no idea how you all make money but I hope you all are around for many years to come.

[nikolay]

Also, it looks like we have to manually update them in 1Password. Out of hundreds of cards, I had only 5 listed for reussing. Why only 5?! Why not hundreds?