# Store does not ask for PIN with debit card **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2018, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691 "2018-05-06T11:54:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/21 "2018-05-08T00:42:53Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > What’s the point of a feature that can cost you $100 if you lose your card? In the U.S. federal law says that if your card is stolen and you report it, you have not liability. Even if you don’t report it at all, your maximum liability is $50. And most credit card issuers will not hold you liable at all for any fraudulent use. So it won’t cost you a penny here. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/22 "2018-05-08T05:16:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > What you are describing happened to me a couple of times after I got my new VISA card with tap enabled (which I did not ask for, but was given without my knowledge). I normally enter the PIN for my debit card with my wallet held over the keypad to shield the numbers I’m typing in from prying eyes; I did this a couple of times with debit card machines that were tap enabled, and the machine pre-empted my VISA card in my wallet over the debit card I had inserted in the machine. I discovered what was happening when I got my next VISA statement. I keep my wallet away from the machine until I have selected “Chequing account” as the method of payment, and the problem is now solved.🙂 Like I said - go into a dark room with a really bright LED flashlight. Hold the flashlight tight against the back of the card, and move it around looking for the copper traces of the loop antenna (also induction power for the chip) You should be able to see the shadow through the plastic. Usually it runs around the edge of the card, but sometimes one leg is down the middle just above the signature panel. Take a utility knife, score the card short lines across the traces deep enough to cut those traces and the tap will not work - easy to test after. The only card this did not work on was a very dark-coloured card. Just don’t cut near the chip or contacts. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/23 "2018-05-08T05:19:11Z")
Why do this? If you don’t realize the card has been taken, and its drawing off your bank account instead of credit, then it’s your money in limbo until they decide you are telling the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/24 "2018-05-08T13:38:49Z")
The store I cashier at does not require a PIN for any transaction, and only requires a signature for amounts over fifty dollars. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/25 "2018-05-08T15:26:05Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I believe it is pointless. I’ve never bothered to scribe my actual signature on a digital pad. I make a little squiggle and that’s it. Well, that _is_ my actual signature. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691/26 "2018-05-08T15:53:51Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Well, that _is_ my actual signature. It is evidently **Bear\_Nenno** ’s now also by consistently using it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-does-not-ask-for-pin-with-debit-card/813691.md?page=1)