A method and apparatus for controlling credit card use. As described in one aspect of the disclosure, a method is disclosed for facilitating communication between a first person (e.g., an account holder) and a second person (e.g., a user) so that the first person may authorize a transaction between the second person and a third party (e.g., a merchant). The method comprises the steps of linking the first and second persons to a financial account that is used for the transaction, receiving data identifying the financial account and the third party from the third party, inquiring whether the first person desires to communicate with the second person based on the data identifying the financial account, and enabling communication between the first and second persons based on a response to the inquiry from the first person and the data identifying the third party. In this way, the first person can control the authorization or denial of a transaction executed by a user based on circumstances surrounding the transaction.