# Can't tell my debit (or credit) cards apart **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005 "2016-01-13T02:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/21 "2016-01-13T23:29:17Z")
I have several cards I have Sharpie written on the with a piece of clear Scotch tape over so it doesn’t eventually rub off. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/22 "2016-01-13T23:30:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A debit card can be processed either like a credit card (swipe and sign) or like an ATM card (swipe and PIN). Depending on which way you do it allocates costs and liabilities differently among the vendor, the transaction processor, and the card issuer. > > As a card user, I prefer to sign and treat it as a credit transaction rather than use my PIN. Sign?? Unlike the US, Canada has joined the modern world :D; we don’t sign credit card receipts (with the occasional exception); our cards are chip and pin. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/23 "2016-01-13T23:39:10Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I have two very similar cards, one for business and one for personal, and both are in my name. I put a small round sticker on the back of the business card. I second this. About 20 years ago I had dime sized stickers on all of my cards due to a card protection/security service I subscribed to. This did not interfere with card usage in any way, including transactions such as ATMs where it was necessary to insert the entire card into a slot to be read. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/24 "2016-01-13T23:44:38Z")
I just keep them on different sides of my wallet. But, yeah, otherwise I’d just use a sticker or a mark with a permanent marker if I kept getting them confused. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/25 "2016-01-13T23:58:42Z")
Heck, the gas cards in the glove boxes of the carshare cars I use have external chips taped to them. As long as they can still be swiped/inserted with card slots, it just doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/26 "2016-01-14T00:03:04Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Sign?? Unlike the US, Canada has joined the modern world :D; we don’t sign credit card receipts (with the occasional exception); our cards are chip and pin. The signing isn’t necessarily on slips of paper. Most vendors I deal with use electronic payment devices—or, say, an iPad—that allow signing with your finger or a stylus. Four-digit PINs aren’t exactly some unbreakable form of security anyway. But the point I was making was that the two ways of completing a transaction have differing legal implications. For me as a purchaser I prefer signing to a PIN. And I like having the option to choose one or the other at the point of sale. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/27 "2016-01-14T04:31:28Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Didnt it expire about 12 years ago? No, actually! It’s from my credit union, one of [these MAC babies](http://www.pattonboro.com/police/images/mac_card_sm_o.gif) and it doesn’t even have any raised text on it like my name or an expiration date. It works just fine still, I use it at ATMs all the time and even as a debit card on occasion (such as at Aldi). Go figure! ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/28 "2016-01-14T05:13:19Z")
I accidentally dropped my debit card in paint once. It didn’t get on the back, and it always worked fine. You could spray paint it. If you were worried about the chip on it or anything put tape over those parts, and remove it when you are done. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005/29 "2016-01-14T17:29:10Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > I used to carry a debit card on my mom’s account for when I was shopping for her. We banked at the same bank, so my card and hers were identical except for the numbers. I wrote “MOM” with a sharpie. This is not rocket surgery. This. If the card is dark use white out. If the card is light use Sharpie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-tell-my-debit-or-credit-cards-apart/743005.md?page=1)