This is as mundane and pointless as things get, but I must share:
When you make a phone or online purchase with a credit card, you’re usually asked for “the three-digit number on the back of your card.” For MasterCard and Visa, this is easy to find. As most Amex holders know, however, it’s not 3 digits on the back, it’s 4 digits on the front. More than once I’ve had to educate phone customer service agents about this.
Today I had a fraud alert and had to call up American Express, and they asked me for “the three digit number on the back of the card.” WTF? We went back and forth, and back and forth, and finally when I tilted the card in the light just right, I could actually see three digits. Looks like the ink has completely rubbed off and there’s the barest of indentations, but I can make out three digits. Today was the first time in 4 decades of having this account that I’ve ever been asked the question. (And no, the card’s not 40 years old.)
My cursory research indicates that merchants want the 4-digit code on the front, but American Express themselves need the 3-digit code on the back. Who knew?
(By the way, Discourse thinks my thread is similar to “How do med students learn to do a digital-rectal exam?” That seems appropriate somehow.)