I tried to buy a Diet Coke from a vending machine using a credit card. Not only was it denied, but I received a text, email, and phone message from the credit company’s Fraud Department about my attempted $2.25 purchase. This was in my hometown during normal business hours, so nothing that should have tripped the alarms. And even though I confirmed I was the one making the purchase, they never did let it go through.
I appreciate the card company’s efforts to protect me from fraud, but it seems that excessive resources are directed at preventing minor problems. Perhaps it is an attempt to avoid little things turning into something more serious, but I believe the threshold should be adjusted — maybe sending a fraud alert after the second purchase, a higher dollar figure, or X miles from home.
Do you have similar systems in your organization where effort is applied to prevent small variances? Maybe it’s time to review what truly constitutes a problem and create policies aligned with that. Sometimes, the effort may be greater than the reward.
