Obama's credit card declined at New York restaurant

[narcon]

Obama's credit card declined at New York restaurant — RT USA

U.S. President Barack Obama.(Reuters / Larry Downing)


US President Barack Obama insisted that he really has been paying his bills, after his credit card was turned down at a posh New York restaurant. First Lady Michelle was forced to pick up the tab following the hiccup.

Obama revealed the slip-up as he was signing a new anti-fraud order into law on Friday at the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau. The law will make chip and pin technology compulsory on all federal government credit and debit cards, the Huffington Post reported.

“It turned out I guess I don’t use it enough, so they thought there was some fraud going on. I was trying to explain to the waitress, ‘No really, I think that I’ve, uh, been paying my bills.’ So even I’m affected by this,” he quipped.

Although the president said the incident happened in New York, he didn’t specify where. However, it was previously reported that the Obamas visited the upmarket Estela restaurant in Manhattan last month.

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The order, signed by President Obama on Friday, encompasses several steps which are designed to give Americans better protection from fraud – the fastest growing form of crime in the US.

In addition to making chip and pin mandatory for all government credit and debit cards – technology which has been in use for a number of years in Europe – the order also requires law enforcement agencies to send credit and debit card information that they believe to be compromised to a national“Internet Fraud Alert System.”

Chip and pin credit and debit cards will be introduced across the US from October 2015.

The restaurant incident was not the first time that Obama has experienced rejection. In August, the president was turned down by at least three exclusive New York golf clubs while visiting the area to attend an aide’s wedding.

Local TV channel WNBC reported that the clubs said they were not given enough notice and could not accommodate the president’s security team on one of their busiest days of the year. Nor did they wish to inconvenience their wealthy members who pay more than $100,000 a year in membership fees.

 

[Developereo]

Power of American democracy.

If this was Pakistan, the restaurant would have been shutdown and the owner thrown in jail on trumped up charges.

 

[Kolaps]

To be honest, I always bring cash too and never trust my credit card.

 

[Brickwall]

Hail democracy...just wish we would read some news like this regarding our leaders.

 

[A.M.]

True Democracy.

 

[indiatester]

Power of American democracy.

If this was Pakistan, the restaurant would have been shutdown and the owner thrown in jail on trumped up charges.

But its the President!
They did not do the right thing by not accommodating him.

 

[Green Arrow]

It shows the fairness and transparent of American system

 

[gambit]

But its the President!
They did not do the right thing by not accommodating him.

On a personal experience...

I had a Bank of America Visa card back when I was active duty in the late 80s. I used it once or twice a yr at most. One day on a date, the restaurant had a declined on my card. This was a time before the widespread use of cell phones. The restaurant's manager allowed me to call the bank and I asked what happened. It turned out the last time I used that card -- for gas -- was over one yr from that date. The bank essentially said that given the historical low activities on my card and that it was over one yr from last activity, BoA was not making any money from me, so they cancelled my card. However, as a nice gesture, the bank will reactivate my card and I just have to keep some activities on it to prevent the same thing from happening again.

- The restaurant did not have to allowed me to use their phone to call the bank.

- The bank did not have to reactivate my cancelled card.

Both would have been within their business practices and rights, but for good wills, they went above and beyond normal business practices.

Most of the public do not know this, but people like a US President or ultra wealthy like Bill Gates often have low credit ratings. They would not qualify for a mortgage in this current economic and financial climate, never mind the fact that Bill Gates can buy pretty much whatever property or product he want -- cash. In the US, the law says you must have insurance before you can drive a vehicle on the roads. A US President is not allowed to drive or even get on a bicycle -- by way of Secret Service necessities. And a billionaire can pay for anyone's medical bills in an accident. But the law does not care, both the US President and the billionaire must have insurance before they can drive.

As far as this story goes, the bank was fully within its rights and practices to decline Obama's credit card. More like it was an automated process based upon historical spending patterns that automatically declined his card. Does not matter if the person is a US President or a plumber. Wells Fargo have a record of my card's activities in Vegas for a month, then one day my card showed up in Los Angeles ? WF will put a freeze on that card immediately. Happened many times and I have no problems with it. I could tell WF to add California, Idaho, and Florida to the exclusion list in whatever mathematical algorithm the bank uses to monitor card activities, but I chose not to do so. I would rather spend five minutes on the phone to unlock my card, tell WF to allow Boise, Idaho, for only one week, than to one day see a zero balance in my bank accounts.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Less a triumph of democracy and more of a triumph of capitalism. You can't pay or have the wrong credentials, you don't get service, though Obama likely still got service.

 

[gambit]

Less a triumph of democracy and more of a triumph of capitalism. You can't pay or have the wrong credentials, you don't get service, though Obama likely still got service.

Post 2 does have a point, though. We have all seen abuses of the system by dictators or quasi-dictators, then enabled by sycophants within the system.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Wow. I wish my country would become like this someday.

 

[airmarshal]

Just imagine if it was Pakistan.

First of all, the president, in our case PM would not have gone to restaurant of commoners, even upscale commoners. If he had and his credit card was declined, the person swiping the card would have been roughed up. IF this was not enough, the restaurant would have been closed and its staff badly abused and bill not paid.

 

[Developereo]

But its the President!
They did not do the right thing by not accommodating him.

I had read (not sure if it's true or just an urban legend) that some ex-President (Jimmy Carter?) was denied entry into a posh restaurant because he wasn't dressed properly. No tie or something...

 

[nvKyleBrown]

But its the President!
They did not do the right thing by not accommodating him.

He'd already eaten. Not sure how India works, but normally any "sit-down" eatery in the US, you pay after you eat.

I don't think that they thought for a moment that he wasn't good for it. Most middle-class+ Americans have more than 1 credit card, so you just use another. Or pay cash. In the case of the President, he could ask to come back to pay (if it really got that bad), and they'd trust him for it. BTW, I've done that myself - ate at a local place, realized I'd left my wallet at home. They didn't make a big deal out of it, I went home, got my wallet, came back and paid them (with a very nice tip).

The golf course thing is completely different - that would be the Secret Service detail wanting to shut the whole place down for a day so the President can play golf. Declining that, particularly on short notice, is very understandable.

Wow. I wish my country would become like this someday.

Could you expand? I can't tell if your being sarcastic, or if you want VIPs to be less pampered and exceptional.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Most of the public do not know this, but people like a US President or ultra wealthy like Bill Gates often have low credit ratings. .

Not quite true. It isn't how often you use your card that affects your credit rating..it's how many times you f*ck up and how long you own your cards.

For instance when I was in college in the mid 1980's I signed up for an American Express, a visa, and a mastercard from the student offers on a bulletin board on campus. I used them once in a while but not often. In 1992 I joined a database mining company that was used by a major credit card issuer. I was horrified at all the data I could query on people just through their credit card purchases (where they have been, what they buy, where/when they buy their gas, etc). I was so paranoid I put all my cards in a drawer and didn't use them again until thirteen years later (2005) In 2006 I applied for a mortgage and found my credit score was 820!!

For someone who didn't use his cards much in 20 years I certainly achieved a pretty good score.

The thing was I kept the same credit cards for 20+ years and since I didn't use them I didn't have any screw ups.

Edit 820...not 720