Signing Check ID, does not validate your card, and the company does not have to be liable for fraud.
Also did you know you should write checks in blue ink?
Black ink can be difficult to tell from a photocopy.
Why? Because my card was signed and it is a violation of the terms of service. I don’t need to show ID, so I don’t show ID. It’s not required, the clerk was acting like I was a criminal, there was no reason for it. One of many reasons the store is dead to me.
I cannot wait until the U.S. gets with the program and banks start issuing chip and PIN cards (the chip and signature cards a a very, very poor second).
It would help if the retailers also got chip readers that work. I was at a grocery store that recently got new card readers that had a chip card slot, chip card proximity reader, and magnetic stripe reader. I had a card with a chip (but not the kind that can be proximity-read) and put it in the chip card slot; it did not read, so I had to use it in the magnetic stripe reader.
Perhaps there is resistance to chip-and-PIN because PIN is commonly used for “debit” transactions (the name is a misnomer, since Visa/MC credit and debit cards can be used in either “credit” or “debit” transactions, though how each type of transaction affects your account can differ).
I don’t know why the space for signature on the back of the card is too narrow. My signature does not look natural because of this.
I prefer the card does not have my name and signature on it. Why don’t they just put the picture on it?
If a thief knows my card number but does not know my name then he cannot use my card.
Right now I’m in Sweden where everyone’s card has a chip. Merchants still require ID if your chip card doesn’t have a PIN.
Capital One allows you to have an image put on the card (but not for cards with chips). If you want to put a picture of yourself on your Capital One non-chip card, you can do that.
However, fraudulent use of your card number, or use of a clone of your card, will not be prevented by your picture on the card. Even if the card with your picture is stolen, it can still be used at non-interactive payment places like gasoline pumps where no one could theoretically be looking at the card.
I live on the East Coast and I am asked for my ID all the time. Yesterday I made three purchases in NYC and had to show ID for all of them. I’ve been asked to show ID everywhere – East Coast, New England, Mid West, PNW, California – everywhere. Not all the time – I don’t know what prompts it. Maybe I should start paying attention and see if I’m asked when I’m paying over a certain dollar amount. I’m asked for ID at both national chain stores and locally owned stores. I wonder if I look suspicious.
I recently made a second-time-in-a-week purchase in a locally owned store near my home. The first time I was asked for ID. The second time I asked if she wanted to see ID, and she said “no, I know you now. But,” she said, “if there was someone waiting behind you who I didn’t know, I’d ask to see your ID.”
OTOH, some stores don’t make you sign a receipt if the amount being charged is under a certain amount. Sometimes that amount is $20, sometimes $50. Other times I need to sign even if I’m only charging $4.
I can’t remember the last time I was asked for ID when using a CC. Most of the time, the cashier never touches my cards…I just either swipe or insert…sign… and go.
About 3/4 of my cards now have chips, but ironically the chips dont all work overseas (or there is something different in how the data is encoded in the barcode). I just got a new ATM card (bank sent it, I didnt request it) with a chip in it. I get asked for ID maybe 10% of the time. And when I do I thank the clerk.
At my Costco, if the amount is under $200, I don’t have to sign. It is kind of scary, given that the clerk never touches my card. Maybe he checks that the name on the card matches the name on my Costco card?? I don’t know if he even knows the name on my card while he’s at the register.
I have “see photo ID” on mine because my spouse is convinced it’s safest but it only actually gets looked at / ID asked for 5% of the time at most. As for sigs, I used to have a nice clear handwritten sig but any kind of trailing loop after my first initial seems to be accepted so I don’t bother doing anything but a random scribble. It seems kind of pointless to insist on sigs when no one checks or compares them to anything.
“However, fraudulent use of your card number, or use of a clone of your card, will not be prevented by your picture on the card. Even if the card with your picture is stolen, it can still be used at non-interactive payment places like gasoline pumps where no one could theoretically be looking at the card.”
Hello, online shopping.
Live in northeast, also never asked for ID.
When I worked as a cashier in the Rockies we only asked for ID during the lunch rushes to slow down the line and reduce the wait time for food. Even when people didn’t have an ID we were required to accept their card. However, it gave people the impression that we cared about their safety and helped our workload. No one ever cited the merchant agreement and the majority of people, if they mentioned anything, simply thanked us for being so diligent.
I subscribe email notification when online purchase is charged to my Amex or Visa card. This helps me know my card is illegally used or not.
In the decades I’ve had credit cards, I’ve never once been asked for ID when using it. In fact, I’ve never heard of anyone being asked until I read this thread!
Still not sure why it is a big deal to simply show your ID. I get asked all the time for it. I don’t feel like a criminal…sometimes the situation is what you make of it.
There ARE criminals out there who WILL use your card after all…
I’ve noticed in the last few years that everywhere in Vegas has gotten militant about asking to see ID when using a credit card. It’s a little annoying but doesn’t bother me all that much.
I never sign my cards. I had a cashier tell me once that the best thing to do is to write ‘ASK FOR ID’ in the signature box, although I haven’t done that either.
If I don’t have to show a document with my home address, height and weight to a complete stranger I’d rather not.
Identity verification at the cash register does nothing to protect me, I am protected by the cardholder agreement and will not be liable for fraudulent charges to my card. And cloned cards are responsible for the biggest capital loss to card issuers, driving interest rates and fees. So the next time a surly cashier (we have a lot of them in SoCal) demands to see my ID I may object. At the least they could say, “may I see your ID please?”.