We still don’t know why he was asked for an ID. Was every person asked for an ID for every credit card transaction or just him? Yes, if every person was asked for an ID as part of taking a credit card, yes, that’s a problem, but if it was just him, maybe there was an issue like an illegible signature or the clerk didn’t feel they matched up or some other unforeseen reason.
You’ve gotta be punking me.
I voted Meh. I’ve never been asked for ID in Canada but I quickly learned that when travelling in the US I keep my DL with my CC and pull them both out together. No one ever looks closely enough at the picture for it to help anyway and if someone had stolen my purse they would have both so I just consider it security theatre and don’t worry about it.
It’s really no more difficult to pull out two cards than one.
We know what they can’t do, though, because it says explicitly that showing ID can’t be a “condition of acceptance.”
Where does it say that?
There’s actually specific conditions in which the merchant is required to ask for an ID in order to accept the card for payment (specifically, when it’s unsigned).
ETA I’m guessing what you meant was that they can’t require an ID to take a credit card. But that still get’s back to my question about the movie theater thing. Was the cashier asking every single person that had a CC for an ID, or just him? That makes a huge difference.
What makes a huge difference is that asking for ID isn’t the same as requiring ID. Visa allows merchants to ask for ID, but in the same sentence says that they cannot make showing ID a condition of acceptance (if the card is signed, obviously). ETA: I think one of the companies actually even bans asking for ID. Mastercard maybe, or one of the ones nobody cares about.
I do the same thing. Plus I get cash back from my card.
Many merchants now ask for photo ID with any charge card purchase, and that’s the phenomenon we’re discussing here (not the self-imposed see ID silliness). In my experience, this varies by geographic area. I notice I’m asked at almost every merchant in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex, while at home in Chicago only about a quarter of the time.
It’s always presented as a store policy, required of every customer presenting a charge or credit card.
Why do I resist? Because it’s an inconvenience to me *that is not allowed *under terms of the contract the merchant signed.