Credit card balance inquiry

A

Anonymous1010

New Member
Jurisdiction
Iowa
Is it legal to call the number on a credit card to check the balance if the card is not yours and you are not an authorized user, you were just told by the card holder that you could use the card?
 
Anonymous1010 said:
Is it legal to call the number on a credit card to check the balance if the card is not yours and you are not an authorized user, you were just told by the card holder that you could use the card?
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Did the cardholder give you permission to check the balance?
 
Anonymous1010 said:
He did not add me as an authorized user through the credit card company. He only sent me pictures of the card and told me to use it.
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And did you actually call the number on the credit card to check the balance?

If not, then why are you asking?

If so, there is no specific law that makes this illegal. However, depending on what you do/intend to do with the information, it might be illegal. Depending on the system in place, it might be illegal for the card issue to disseminate the balance information to you.
 
I very strongly suspect that unless you have previously provided the credit card company with written authorization from the card holder to be granted that information, Member Services or Customer Services or whatever they call the department that answers the CS line, would refuse to provide you with the balance.
 
Anonymous1010 said:
Is it legal to call the number on a credit card to check the balance if the card is not yours and you are not an authorized user, you were just told by the card holder that you could use the card?
Click to expand...

What the other person owes is not any of your business. While it is not illegal for you to make the call as long as you don't give false information to the issuer (like lying about your identity) federal and state privacy laws would not allow the issuer to give you that information without the cardholder's express consent. If you do lie to get the information, you may be committing one or more identity theft or fraud related crimes. My suggestion is not to make that call. The saying "curiosity killed the cat" comes to mind here.
 
Anonymous1010 said:
He did not add me as an authorized user through the credit card company. He only sent me pictures of the card and told me to use it.
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That's a formula for possible problems later. If he did not add you as an authorized user with the issuer then you are NOT an authorized user as defined in most credit card agreements. Typically when you are added as an authorized user of an account you'd get a card with your own name on it to use. Simply using a photocopy of the card holder's card wouldn't suffice. A true authorized card holder is not personally liable for charges on that account, but an unauthorized user could be liable for charges he or she makes using the card information.
 

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