Javelin Strategy & Research sent us some numbers regarding its survey of credit card issuers and ways to prevent identity theft. 64% of issuers still require full 9-?digit social security numbers when accessing online account information or phone support. Issuers are lacking in providing cardholders with the ability to prohibit certain merchant categories. 41% of issuers do not allow cardholders to purchase or order credit reports or monitoring services. Issuers generally do not offer user?defined purchase alerts. Visa USA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express all offer cardholders online card protection/authentication methods. 90% of issuers provide education to consumers on online identity fraud safety and 85% provide this information on areas related to offline safety.