Shopping with Private Payments
Once you have the Private Payments software installed on your computer, you'll see the American Express icon in the system tray.
Now, when you're making an online purchase and reach the checkout page on the merchant's Web site, one of three things will happen:
- The Private Payments dialog box pops up automatically. The Private Payments login dialog box will automatically appear, and you'll be prompted to enter your username and password that you created when you signed up for the Private Payments acccount. You'll then be prompted to select your card from a drop-down list box and click the Continue button.
In a moment, you'll be issued a Private Payments number and an expiration date to use in place of your credit card number on the merchant's checkout page. You can then copy that information from the Private Payments dialog box. If you have Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, you can simply drag the information from the Private Payments dialog box to the appropriate boxes on the Merchant's checkout page.
- You are automatically issued a Private Payments number and expiration date. At some of the most popular online shopping sites that are specifically participating in the Private Payments program, the whole process will occur automatically with no intervention from you. In other words, the Private Payments number and expiration date will be automatically entered into the appropriate boxes on the Merchant's checkout page.
- Nothing happens. If you don't see the Private Payments login dialog box nor the number appearing on the Merchant's checkout page, you must click the American Express icon in the system tray. When you do so, you'll see the Private Payments login dialog box and can sign in and get your Private Payments number.
