I received a credit increase on one of my cards and I just received my new card in the mail today. On the back, as on all other credit cards I’ve seen, are the words “Authorized Signature” and “Not valid unless signed.” This has always seemed fairly stupid to me. After all, if someone stole my card, they could make purchases easily with it by forging my signature; no one seems to check ID anymore. I remember reading somewhere that you’re permitted to write in “Ask for picture identification” or some such phrase in the signature box and that is just as valid as signing your credit card. Is this in fact true? Can I just write in that the merchant should ask for ID and then call up the card company to activate it?
My father-in-law does that on his cards. If the cashier is any good, they read it and ask for his license. It seems to work for him.
I always thank the person that compares my signature on the card to the signature on my receipt for making sure it matches.
Well, I’m a neurotic little man. When I shop a Sears, they always place the receipt into their “signature digitizer”.
Thank you, but no thank you. I have always refused to allow them to digitize my signature. I mean, holy SHIT !!!!! I make an "X" in the frame ( the computer is prohibited from completing the sale unless SOMETHING happens in that frame). Then I do sign the slip, of course. I've actually had managers be called over because of this refusal. Of course, they back me up. Nowhere in the documentation for that card did it say that I had to surrender my signature to their databanks. Feh !
And, I also thank people for reading and checking my sig against my card's. It's the fastest way to match identity. I do find the idea of " Please check Photo ID" to be attractive, I'll try that next.
Cartooniverse
I have had a card refused where I wrote “Please check photo ID” in place of the signature. It doesn’t matter whether it’s valid or not to do so, it depends on how smart or experienced the register operator is. And I have problems at Wal-Mart’s, since they are brow-beaten to “check that signature”. No signature, no sale. And the manager backed up the teller with the simple statement - “Corporate policy” given as the reason.
I haven’t signed mine. Having once watched a total amateur practice for five minutes and then forge my signature so perfectly I couldn’t tell the difference myself, I’m not about to.
I’ve never had the slightest problem getting merchants to accept my unsigned card in the US, or in Ireland, France, or Spain. Most of 'em don’t seem to notice. For some reason, the UK is a completely different story. After about a week of hearing “You forgot to sign your card, love” every time I tried to purchase something, I finally caved and wrote “ASK FOR PHOTO ID” in the signature panel. And believe me, they did. Worked fine 'til I had to deal with a Chinese waiter in Manchester whose English was very limited. I had all of three pounds in my pocket at the time, and for several minutes I was terrified he wouldn’t accept the card at all. (Dishwashing anyone?) He consulted at length with the proprietor (who didn’t speak English either) and they finally decided to take it – without, however, asking to see any proof of identity.
I’ve got half a mind to get a second, signed card just for traveling abroad, as I’m not sure my nerves can take too many more situations like that. Or maybe just try to carry enough cash to cover my restaurant bills (now there’s a radical thought…)
I lost my wallet about three years ago, and as part of getting all my cards cancelled and re-issued, the customer service people at American Express recommended writing "Ask for picture ID” on the back of the card instead of signing it.
Their take on signing the card was that it really didn’t matter as far as theft protection goes. If you sign it, the thief can copy your signature. If you don’t sign it, the thief can, and without picture ID, there is nothing to compare the signature to anyway. So the picture ID is the key.
So I wrote “Ask for picture ID” on all the replacement cards. Since then, I get asked for picture ID about one time in three (even though the cards weren’t signed) and I always make it a point to thank the people who ask me.
On a couple of occasions, I’ve had store clerks fret about not having the cards signed. I’ve never actually been turned down, but it’s slowed things down a few times.
So as I’ve gotten new cards during the last year, I sign them a little smaller than normal, and on the empty space left over, I print in small letters “Ask for picture ID” with the “Ask for” above the “picture ID. Since I’ve started doing this, I’m still getting asked for ID about the same amount (approx one time out of three) but I haven’t had anyone bother me about the signature. So far, seems like a good way to do it.
Ugly
Thanks for the info all. I’m really looking for a legal answer though. If I write “Ask for picture ID” (or whatever the correct phrase would be) in the signature box on the back of my card, can the merchant legally refuse my card or can I stand there and demand that they accept my credit card, backed by a valid driver’s license? I know that most places have “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone” clauses, so in theory they could refuse to sell me a product or service, but if I am legally allowed to write in “Ask for picture ID” in the signature box, they wouldn’t be able to refuse my card and then ask me to pay with cash, check, signed credit card, or other forms of payment (I’m thinking of restaurants here).
True, the back of the card does read “Not valid unless signed” so my initial guess is that that would pretty much settle matters, but is there a clause somewhere that would permit me to protect my credit by asking the merchant to check my picture ID? (some loophole like: well my picture ID is signed so by extension my credit card is signed). I’ve read over the contracts of my various cards, and I’ve never seen this mentioned.
FTR, I reside in California, USA.
This may not add much to the discussion, but…
I write, in HUGE letters with a sharpie marker “CHECK ID” in the signature portionof all my cards. I have done this for about two years now, and I have never been refused a sale because of it. RJK was on point in saying that only a minority of clerks even bother to check, in my experience it is even less than one in three.
I have no idea about the legality of a sale being refused.
I’ll have to try the sharpie trick next. Mine say “Ask for picture ID”, but I’ve only been asked about 5 times in the last year. My favorite is when the clerk actually looks at it, but STILL doesn’t ask- just what did they see??? I’m still waiting for someone to say “Thank you, Mr. Id!”. 
Here’s the Mailbag article about this very topic:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcredit.html
Arjuna34
Thanks Arjuna34, I knew I read it somewhere. That was probably the article I read.
The question still remains, though: can a merchant legally refuse your credit card as a valid form of payment if you do not sign it?
From restaurant management experience. A merchant can refuse any payment other than cash for any reason they’d like. It’s not good business to do so, but the only thing a vendor has to accept is cash.
Commander Fortuan said:
But they can just refuse the sale outright, correct? I mean, doesn’t “legal tender” just mean that, if a debt exists, cash MUST be accepted as a settlement of that debt – but in the case of a retail sale, the retailer could just cancel the sale and refuse your business entirely, couldn’t s/he, and then not HAVE to take your cash?
Seems to me that in a retail environment, a debt doesn’t exist unless the retailer is willing to sell you whatever you’re trying to buy. And since they’re also free to refuse your business, if they do so, how could a debt exist?
Or am I way off base?
I have thought about the ‘ask for photo ID’ for CC’s before, but it seems like we are protected by law and liable for no more then $50 - so I don’t. But debit cards are another story - ** I HATE DEBIT CARDS W/ CC LOGOS ** they are a direct method to my accounts. on the back of that card i wrote very boldly ‘ask for photo id’ I wish there was room to add, ‘if I don’t have any or it doesn’t match cut up the card’ but the A.F.P.I.D. line takes up too much room.
The only good that I can see in thoses cards is for people who use checks and hold up the lines - if they use the DC the trasnaction would go faster and there would be no risk to me ;).
And yes, I’ve asked if I can get a non mastercard debit card - they said not w/ the account I have 
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Cald, I think your answer lies with the credit card companies, not the merchants (though, admittedly, that won’t do you much good at a 7-11 on a rainy night with an ignorant cashier, a stubborn mamager, and a line of impatient customers backed up behind you.)
My guess is that the cc company sets the policy in this situation and merchants are obligated to follow it. Remember about 10 years ago there was an issue regarding cc use where many, many merchants created a “policy” that cc companies disagreed with? (I think it was the concept of a “minimum purchase” price for cc sales… but I could be wrong.) In any case, the cc companies said that no such policy existed and they told the merchants to stop it. They stopped it.
No, you don’t have to sign it. Yes, the store can refuse it if you don’t sign it.