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Comment by superdude | Hacker News Reader

What service or cards offer SMS alerts for any transaction? The best I have it American Express which will alert me only when I have a transaction over $10. V.me by Visa used to offer an alert service for any amount and it was great, but unfortunately that service got shut down.

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When I added my American Express card to Apple Pay, it started sending me push notifications for every transaction. It's crazy how fast it is, before I can even put my card back in my pocket my phone buzzes. You see pre-authorizations too, so when you swipe at a gas pump it usually shows a $100 authorization check.

Is that not only for Apple Pay transactions? I'd expect payments made directly w/ Amex wouldn't buzz you.

For Amex, adding the card to Apple Pay will notify you of all transactions.

Does it have to be SMS? My Simple card notifies me every time the card is used. https://www.simple.com/

Any push notification would be ok, but SMS is preferred because it's more reliable for me. The Visa service V.Me was great because you could use any card, even all the specialty rewards cards, and they didn't even have to be Visa cards!

I have "in-app" alerts (push notifications) enabled for a Discover card and two AmEx cards but they are set at relatively high amounts ($500, IIRC). I haven't checked to see how low they can be set. That requires you have their apps installed, however. I'm not sure if you can get them via SMS.

All the banks I deal with offer it. Chase. USAA. Citibank. Capital One.

> The best I have it American Express which will alert me only when I have a transaction over $10.

You can configure that amount in the online settings; change it to $0 and you'll get an alert for every transaction.

I don't know about alternatives, but I noticed that when I hooked up my Amex to Apple Pay, every transaction shows up as a push notification on my iPhone, nearly instantly.

I believe this is the case with any credit card placed into an Apple Wallet for Apple Pay, regardless of the card issuer. Every charge initiates a notification.

I found this useful when I was wondering about a charge that I wasn't expecting pop up. I logged into the card issuer's online portal and found that it was something I care about, but simply forgot it was pending. Though if it was a fraudulent charge, I could've just gave them a ring. It certain can help in noticing fraudulent transactions in a much shorter time frame than simply waiting for a statement.

That hasn't been the case for me. I get ApplePay notifications for every POS charge for my Amex Platinum even if it's not via ApplePay. But I have cards from Chase, Citi, and Bank of America in ApplePay as well, and I only get notifications if it's an ApplePay transaction. I wish they all did it the way Amex does.

Edit: Actually, I mis-remembered. Internet charges on the Amex do cause a notification. But not for any of the other cards.

You need to enable this with credit card providers. I had to confirm a mobile number with Chase then set it up with >$0 auth.

I have cards from Chase, Citi and Barclay. Every charge yields a notification just like the AMEX.

Internet charges on my American Express shoot me a notification as well.

I found these alerts really useful. I spotted a random travel site charge and thought maybe my wife had reserved a hotel for an upcoming trip. The next day I saw two more alerts on my phone and called Amex. Yep, fraud, new card issued now. Amex thanked me for keeping a close eye on the charges. I guess they realize it helps them catch/prevent fraudsters too.

I just checked (and enabled) the texts for any amount over $0 on my Chase card.

Same, but I chose $1.

The first sign I got that my card was stolen was a 69 cent transaction at a Marriot in Vermont (I live in the Bay Area so this was weird).

Do you really get that many sub $1 purchases that you want to avoid getting text messages for?

I know both Simple and Capital One (their credit cards, at least) offer near-instant iOS and SMS notifications of all transaction.

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