Are banks in the US obligated to opt you out from Visa Account Updater?

Question

According to a somewhat related question:

Shutterstock subscribes to Account Updater, and gets updated copies of
your card info when it expires or is replaced.
VAU is Visa's version; more info is in a fact sheet here. MasterCard
calls their version Account Billing Updater. American Express calls
their version Cardrefresher. Payment processors will often aggregate
multiple Card Brand's versions into a single service for Merchants.
It is theoretically possible to opt out of Account Updater, going
through your bank to do so. It's one of those 'you have to know in
order to ask' type of things, and I'm betting the ease of doing so
varies from bank to bank.

I called my bank (Bank of America) and they're saying opting out of this is not possible, even going as far as hinting that I'm trying to do this so that I could scam merchants. Is there an obligation on the banks side to opt me out of this "helpful" service?

JonathanReez · Answer

I've contacted my bank (Bank of America) over both email and phone with no luck - it seems that there's no way to opt out of this service. A Google search for "visa account updater opt out" shows that credit unions often offer an opt out, but not major banks.
However there's a neat solution - Privacy.com virtual one-off cards. Each merchant gets its own unique card and you can cancel it at any time, without the "account updater" getting in the way. If you value the ability to fully control your finances, this might be the way forward. I wish they allowed fully anonymous usage funded by, say, Bitcoin - but so far that's the best I could find on the market. If you live in the EU, you can use disposable Revolut cards for the same purpose.

Are banks in the US obligated to opt you out from Visa Account Updater?

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