Not sure whether to be intrigued or scared: targeted ads within credit card statements

Today I was checking my credit card bill online and saw that my credit card company has begun to target promotions that are tied to specific line items on my bill.

For example, I had purchased something at Borders last month and now I’m getting an offer for free shipping for orders over $25 on BN.com.  The promo shows up right underneath the relevant line item on the online statement.

They also presented a promo for 50 free prints on Snapfish connected to my recent Flickr renewal.

I am contemplating asking the credit card company to turn these promotions off.  It’s creeping me out a bit, frankly, especially since I didn’t specifically ask for them to do this targeting.  But I’d also like to know if they built this technology themselves or if they’re using some off-the-shelf product.  Cool, but a bit creepy…

Has anyone else had a similar experience with their credit card provider?

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3 comments
  1. Forgot to add to my comment.

    Yes, it is freakin’ me out. I don’t want anything (whether humans or machines) to monitor what I spend and where. It is blatant invasion of privacy.

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