Dear Marilyn: I think what he is referring to is the use of your mother's maiden name by your bank as a means of identifying that a caller on the phone is really you when discussing your credit card account. I have repeatedly asked my credit card issuers to use something else, but they insist that when they try to use other types of personal identifiers, people forget what they chose, and they will never forget the maiden name of their mothers. Thus, they insist on using that as their means of insuring that the person who calls them is really you. Allan