The Law: Tightening Plastic Credit

In recent years banks and retailers have competed vigorously to stuff U.S. wallets with millions of credit cards (see Music). Their' success quickly taught burglars and muggers that a stolen card can fetch several thousand dollars' worth of merchandise in a few hours, to say nothing of a $100 resale rate from the nearest fence. Last year card thieves netted an estimated $30 million in goods and services from the nation's 15 major oil companies alone.

Last week corporations were given a new incentive to crack down on credit-card fraud. Under an amendment to...