Obama Credit Card Declined - On Friday, while signing an executive order mandating chip-and-pin technology on all federal government credit and debit cards, the president of the United States revealed that he is not spared from embarrassment common to many people.
The Obama credit card declined incident was revealed by Obama himself, who stated that the occurrence took place at a restaurant in New York City last month, according to NBC News.
At the time of the Obama credit card declined incident, President Barack Obama reportedly wondered if he had already become a victim of identity theft. Fortunately, it wasn't the case.
"It turned out, I guess, I don't use it enough to so they thought there was some fraud going on," said Obama.
"I was trying to explain to the waitress 'No, I really think that I've been paying my bills.' Fortunately, Michelle had hers," Obama added thankfully.
The executive order that the 53-year-old president signed on Friday is a government plan to tighten security for debit cards that transfer federal benefits like Social Security to millions of Americans, according to CBS New York and the Associated Press.
"So even I'm affected by this," the president explained of the Obama credit card declined incident in relation to the order he was signing.
The New York restaurant where the Obama credit card declined occurrence took place on Sept. 24 was Estela. Obama dined at the restaurant while attending the U.N. General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Estela employees said they couldn't discuss the Obama credit card declined incident, reported the AP.
According to the HuffPost, when they called the posh restaurant in Manhattan Friday, a woman answered and said that no one was available at the moment to talk about the president's rendezvous at their place.
Meanwhile, photos of the president's order the night of the Obama credit card declined had been posted on the restaurant's Instagram page, but it was taken down later on. Food blog Epicurious was able to capture the images though and detailed the first couple's order in a Sept. 25 post. The post said they ate "two orders of endive salad and burrata with salsa verde, tomatoes, and salt cod croquettes."
Identity theft is now a steadily growing problem, with over 100 million people estimated to have been victims to security breaches in 2014 at retailers such as Target and Home Depot.
Last year December, Target Corp. reportedly disclosed that about 40 million credit and debit cards could have been involved during a data breach between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, the holiday shopping season.
The executive order signed by Obama Friday is called BuySecure, which entails cards issued by the federal government to contain an internal chip instead of magnetic strips. This will reduce fraud potential in credit cards.
The executive order which Obama while detailing the Obama credit card declined incident outlines a couple of steps wherein the government can better protect Americans from financial fraud and identity theft, according to the Huffington Post.
Among other things, the order requires:
1. Federal law enforcement to send credentials they find to a nationwide "Internet Fraud Alert System"
2. Government agencies must make personal data available online through a two-factor authentication, or log-in by typing in both a password and a PIN code sent to a user's phone
3. Government agencies should begin introducing machines that read a new type of credit card which now uses an embedded microchip and a PIN code to authorize transactions, also known as "chip and pin" cards - to be introduced by credit card companies October next year
The Obama credit card declined incident goes to show that even the president of such a powerful country is not safe from potential identity theft. As for the status of Obama's declined credit card, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters "I'm not able to speak to the current status of the presidential credit card."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
