Miffed man pays bank bill a penny at a time By Kamakshi Tandon
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian credit card holder is putting a new twist on an old trick practiced by disgruntled debtors -- repaying his bill in pennies to maximize the collector's inconvenience.
Unhappy when his Canadian bank began outsourcing some of its credit card processing to the United States, the man lodged his protest via the bank's online payment system, jamming its computers by making dozens of tiny payments a day.
Don Rogers said he was worried that anti-terrorism laws in the United States could allow the U.S. government to access his data without his consent.
"I don't want the CIA or George Bush to know how many cases of Viagra I bought last week, or what church or charities I donate to," he told Reuters.
Rogers said his card has since been canceled by Vancouver-based Citizens Bank, but he will continue paying his remaining balance of C$1,000 ($860) one little bit at a time.
He has also decided to run in the January 23 federal election as a candidate for a fringe party that wants to abolish the North American Free Trade Agreement linking Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Citizens Bank spokesman Rolf Baumbusch said such outsourcing was commonplace among Canadian banks because there were "very limited opportunities" for doing the work in Canada. Canada's federal privacy commissioner has ruled the practice is legal as long as customers are informed.
But Canadians should be aware of cross-border privacy issues, said Arthur Cockfield, a law professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario
"More and more our personal information is being rendered into digital formats and zips around the world," he said, adding that any credit card data sent to the United States is subject to U.S. law.
Roger's initial attempt at paying in pennies produced a statement over 32 feet long, according to media reports.
