Is "Bill Me Later" Safer Than Credit?

A little note appears on the sidebar of page 26 of Money magazine's July 2007 issue.

Apparently some websites have started offering a "Bill Me Later" option for those who don't want to put their credit card info online. The problem is that unless you read the fine print, you may not know that you're actually applying for a revolving line of credit when you select this option. This line of credit has an interest rate of 19.99% and late fees of up to $39.

To top it all off, less than 1% of ID theft cases begin with online transactions. Credit cards are also protected from fraud. But 8% of ID theft cases begin with stolen paper mail!

Asking for "Bill Me Later" really doesn't protect a thing, and could cost you big bucks.

"Let's be careful out there."