What do you mean, I HAVE to sign my credit card?!

The BBQ Pit
1

So I’m at the post office this afternoon to send off my tax information to my accountant. I know, I know, it’s kind of late, but I’m sending it express mail so that it’ll get there tomorrow afternoon. That’ll give them plenty of time to get it in to the IRS.

I go up to the counter to get the express mail envelope. They’ve got a trainee working there; I’ve got no problem with that. Everybody’s got to learn on the job sometimes. And he’s slow, but he’s thorough. He gets everything taken care of, and the envelope is sealed, and he tells me it’ll be $13.65.

Well.

I hand him my credit card. He takes it, then turns it over and looks at the back for what seems like a long time.

“Oh, um…” he says.

“Yes?”

“Um, I guess your signature rubbed off…”

(The strip that you’re supposed to sign on is almost gone.)

“Well, that’s true. But I never signed it. I want people to ask for my ID when I use my credit card.”

“Um, it has to be signed.”

“Can’t you just look at my ID?”

“Um, let me ask my supervisor.”

He does, and she goes and asks her supervisor. Meanwhile, the line is backing up behind me. She (his immediate supervisor) comes back.

“I’m sorry, the card has to be signed. Maybe you could sign it off to the side.”

I try, but using a ball-point pen (which is all they have) has no effect at all on the slippery plastic of the card; that’s why the strip is a different material.

“It’s not working,” I say, and look up at her.

“Do you have another credit card, or a checkbook, or anything?”

“No, this is all I have on me. Why can’t you just ask for my ID?”

“I’m sorry sir. We could just give you back your items.”

“I guess you better.”

They open the envelope, hand me back my tax materials, say “I’m sorry” one more time, and I leave.

Why in bloody blue FUCK do they require credit cards to be signed? Don’t they realize it’s actually less secure to sign your credit card? When the card is signed, anybody can use it. Especially if they want me to sign it right in front of them! I could be anybody! If it’s not signed, and they ask for my ID, only someone with my name (of which there is at least one other person in the world, but let’s face it, not many) can use it! ARRGHH!

Kind of lame, I know, but I was really pissed off. That’s 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back, and it was all for nothing!

2

You should direct your rant at the credit card companies. I work in a retail store and we have been told to start turning down cards that are not signed. I have no idea why they care all of a sudden, but there you go.

3

Not true:

From This article

Almost every credit card security site I visited advocates signing your card. A few also suggest adding “See Driver’s License”.

4

Really? When did they start doing that? I use this card all the time (it’s actually my debit card, but it’s a Visa, so it’s accepted everywhere Visa is), and this has never happened to me anywhere. Granted, most of the time nobody even checks to see if it’s signed, but in theory, not signing it seems to be the most secure thing. What, exactly, is proved by the card being signed that is not proved by my showing my ID? That’s my question (not for you, for the credit card companies and/or merchants).

5

Actually, it’s against both Visa and Mastercard’s regulations for merchants to ask for ID when a card is signed. The only documentation I could find was here. (warning: pdf documentation). However, I have relatives who work closely with Visa and Mastercard, and have been informed that it is against regulations–most people don’t bother to complain, so it keeps going.

Personally, I feel better being asked for ID when I present my signed credit card, but each to his own. Of course, I’ve been to places where I haven’t been asked for ID or even asked to sign a receipt.

6

Lindy, FWIW…I’ve been putting CHECK ID in big, sharpie letters on all my credt cards for 5 years now and the only place I ever get hassled about it is at the post office. So don’t feel that you were singled out.

I just take cash when I need to visit that orifice of Satan.

7

I got the same thing at the post office (and had left my card unsigned for the same reason you do, Lindyhopper), but I got off with a warning; the clerk took it this time, but said that she really wasn’t supposed to.

Since I’d never run into that before, I pretty much blew it off, but then I got the same schpiel at a Walgreen’s! I told that clerk about the Post Office Incident, and made the argument that a few years ago, they were TELLING you that not signing your card would give you added security (because anybody can forge your signature, but if the clerk asks for ID . . . )!

The Walgreen’s clerk agreed with me, but pointed to the fine print on the card that said, “Not valid until signed”. Her take was that there just had to be something in that blank, even if I wrote, “Kiss My Foot” (her idea, not mine, but I like it) instead of my name.

Anyway, I dunno what to tell ya, but it seems that a signature is becoming The Rule.

8

I had heard that it was better to not sign the card, but in the signature place write “PLEASE ASK FOR PHOTO ID” that way if the card is stolen, the thief cannot put their own version of your signature in the signature space, whilst assuring a photo ID is requested by all observant cashiers.
Is this now not allowed?

Cheers, Bippy

9

Is there anything on the back of your card? I would definately put “see id” or something on there.

If you don’t put anything on your card, the thief could just sign your name for you, and not even have to forge your name.

10

The back of all my cards says ‘Ask For Photo ID’. Rarely does a clerk ever turn that card over at all to even see that it says that.

11

I’ve had my card refused by the post office for not being signed. In fact, she would only accept a check or another card that had already been signed, she would not allow me to sign it in her presence and then accept it. If charges are later declined on a card that a business accepted that was not signed, they’re liable for the charges. Apparently the post office is taking this fraud issue very seriously.

As for a card being more secure if it’s not signed…ummm, are you on crack? If you don’t sign your card and it’s stolen, all a thief has to do is sign your name in his own handwriting and then go use it. If some alert cashier checks the signature on the card against the signature on the receipt, guess what? They now match perfectly. If you had signed your card, there would be at least an outside chance that the signatures on the card and receipt would not match.

I’m quite sure it states in pretty much every credit card user agreement that the card is not valid unless signed…it probably even has it imprinted on the back. Businesses are in no way obligated to accept your card if it’s not signed, as it’s in violation of the agreement they have with Visa/MC/etc.

Sorry, but on this one, you’re entirely in the wrong. Frustrating for you? Yes. Assholish of the post office? No.

12

If you don’t sign your card and it is stolen, the thief can sign it in your name and then her signatures on the receipts will match the one on the card, making it more difficult for you to prove it was unauthorized. If you don’t want to sign the card (and many retailers are starting to refuse unsigned cards, I used to work in retail and was told to refuse) make sure you write ask for ID on the strip so someone else cannot sign it. I have had my cards stolen before and now I sign and also write ask for ID on the back. I had to prove it was not me that used the card and I did this in part by showing that the signature on the card did not match the thief’s signatures on the receipts.

13

Now, I’d understand if they required you to sign your card and then asked for your ID so they could compare the signatures. That makes sense to me. However (particularly considering Cassie Beth’s information), this isn’t what they’re doing. They’re not asking for ID; they just want the card signed. Which is stupid. Like I said above, anybody can use a signed card if they don’t ask for ID. Grr.

14

The thinking is (and this comes from corporate Loss Prevention) that the clerk is supposed to check the cack of the card and compare it to the signature on the credit card receipt. This has always been SOP in retail, but so few clerks actually follow it. With credit card fraud and retail chargebacks on the rise, companies are now becoming stricter with enforcement, and as a cosequence, are leaning harder on clerks to follow the rules. Plus, if your card is stolen and your credit card company can demonstrate that the signature on the card does not match yours (that is, it was unsigned at the time of theft, and someone else signed it), you can be held responsible for any charges. Additionally, most states do not allow stores to ask for ID with a signed credit card that the signature matches, although voluntarily offering it is usually acceptable proof. I have seen a few experts who advocate only writing “See ID” in the signature space, but this may not be in compliance with the credit card agreement for your card. If stores were to follow their own credit card acceptance policies, such as checking the signature on the card against the reciept, fraud would be greatly minimized. Obviously, if this were the case, and you neglected to sign your card and a theif put his own signature on there, the signed reciept would match, and the sale would be processed.

To protect your signature from wearing off, many places recommed putting a strip of cellophane tape over it after you’ve signed it.

15

Guess I was a little too late :).

16

And btw…the post office clerk said that they cannot accept cards that only have “Ask for ID” on the signature area. They must also be signed, for the reasons I outlined above.

17

Here’s a hypo:

You lose your unsigned credit card. A fraud operator picks it up. Now, the fraud operator can sign your name any old way he wants on the back of the card. When he goes to use it, the signatures match.

Using the “see ID”, all a fraud operator has to do is get a fake ID with your name on it. He an then sign your name on the fake ID any old way he wants to, and the signatures at the checkstand will match.

If you sign your credit card, the fraud operator must now at least ATTEMPT to try to match YOUR genuine signature to pass himself off as you.

It seems like just an added measure of security to match the signature at the checkstand with BOTH the signature on the credit card AND the signature on the ID.

18

Dear lord, I must type slow! Everyone else already made my points while I was pecking away. :mad:

19

I just tell them that it IS my legal signature, and promptly write 'CHECK ID" on their little LCD pad. That confused the hell out of them.

20

OK, OK. I guess I should have signed it. I didn’t know that the official policy was to compare the signature on the card with the one on the receipt. I just want them to ask to see my ID when I use my card. Is that too much to ask? And if so, why? And “because it’s against policy” is not the answer I’m looking for here. :slight_smile: