I realize this question probably doesn’t have a strictly factual answer, but…
What is Mastercard’s and Visa’s rationale behind this bizarre rule? If vendors were required to obtain valid photo ID before accepting a CC payment, it would put a stop to a lot (but certainly not all) of the CC fraud that goes on out there.
Is it just in the name of customer privacy? That seems like a pretty weak argument. If you’re that serious about privacy/anonymity, you wouldn’t be using a credit card in the first place.
In the beginning, there were no credit cards. Then one day, some banking organizations decided to try to nationalize various concepts they had started on a regional basis (for example, Bank of America’s BankAmericard, which is now your VISA). They did NOT want potential users of the system stymied by a whole lot of procedural hoops. So they insisted that the merchant not do anything more complex to establish identity than check the countersigned credit slip signature against the signature on the back of the card. This was similar to the procedure of checking the signature at time of cashing a traveller’s check against the original signature, so nothing really new.
I suspect that the reason the whole concept hasn’t been totally revised, given how many credit card transactions are now done totally electronically, is inertia. Someday, one of the companies is going to totally re-write their rules, and establish a new system of identification guarantee. Until then, you can insist as a card user that you NOT have to show ID.
BTW, another occasional abuse of the system by merchants are the merchants who insist upon a minimum purchase for using the card. That’s precluded by the agreement, too.
Rules is rules.
If I don’t get to run around beating up old people and robbing liquor stores for fun, y’all don’t get to break your agreement with your credit card merchant account holder!
I used to go shopping with my (now deceased) grandmother. She was mortally offended when she was asked for her driver’s license after she wrote a check. She seemed to think that people could somehow tell that she was an honest person, a person of quality, and she shouldn’t be required to show any sort of ID. I think that she also hated to show her DL because it would show her age, and Og forbid that anyone should know her birthdate. This attitude was common with women her age, and filtered down to women of my mother’s age, too. So, if BankAmericard/Visa/Mastercard wanted to get these women* in the general chargecard habit (as opposed to the store chargecard habit), they had to make it as easy and pleasant as possible for these women to use their cards.
Grandma had a mental list of stores that she wouldn’t shop at anymore, because they had dared, DARED to ask her for ID.
No, I don’t get the “My age is SECRET” thing that some women have. Then again, I’m not particularly bothered by some other women wearing an outfit that’s identical to mine.
For what it’s worth, I would far rather be required to show photo ID and help reduce identity theft and credit card fraud.
I never went shopping with men who paid with a check or credit card when I was around. My dad habitually carried a lot of cash, and my brother was too young to have a checking or charge account when we went goofing around together. When I was dating*, my dates paid in cash for dinner, movies, whatever.
**Yes, this was during the Dark Ages, when a woman offering to pay for the date might as well pull out a gelding knife and emasculate the guy right there in front of Og and everybody.
From time to time we’ll get someone who refuses to give us their phone number when we take a check (just make something up then, if the check is good I won’t have to use it anyways), they usually cite some sort of privacy concern. They think we’ll sell it to telemarketers are use it ourselves to call them for fun or something. My Dad has a great line for them “So…you don’t trust me with your phone number, but you expect me to trust you that this piece of paper is worth $75” At that point you have a choice, find a different method of payment, or give me your phone number. Now that we use Telecheck, we very rarely need to get a phone number anymore.
All that needs to be done is for the USA to be pulled kicking and screaming into the 21st century and start using Chip and PIN. We have had this in the UK on both debit and credit for several years with no problems. The same goes for the most of the rest of Europe.
Because of the reluctance of the USA to adopt Chip and PIN we are still obliged to have the magnetic strip on our cards in (addition to the chip). This is in case we want to use are cards in the US and leaves our cards vulnerable to cloning.