Genius!
Does your ID say “Check ID” on the signature line? That’s great.
Apparently, I need to move because they always, always check my signature on the receipt against the sig on the card.
(Which is odd, as though the clerk, in under 5 seconds, is going to recognize anything but the very most pathetic forgery - but they still check anyway)
OK, I signed my cards. Both of them. I had to use a Sharpie marker, and it doesn’t look that great, but hopefully it’ll be recognizable enough that they’ll accept them in the future. I guess I’m naive (living in Montana for 8 years will do that to you), but I honestly never even considered the possibility that someone would steal the card, then make a fake ID with my name on it. Guess they could without much trouble, though. :shrug:
We’ve had this sort of thread before and lots of people emerge saying that they write “Check ID” on their card for extra security. It seems bizarre to me. If you follow the credit card company’s rules (and sign the card) you become liable for what? The first $50, I think. Yet many people break the rules “for extra security” and in so doing could potentially be liable for every dollar put on the card if it gets stolen. Makes no sense to me.
[Credit Card Fraud Analyst Hat ON]
As said before, Visa/Mastercard policy states the card is not valid unless signed. You can add “see id” next to the signature, hell you can write “I’m not wearing underpants” if you want. If the merchant calls for manual approval, I can and will refuse the sale until the card is signed. If I approve it on an unsigned card, I am in violation of policy.
If the card is stolen and the signatures on the fraud purchases do not match, the store loses the money. By signing the card, you help prevent fraud (hopefully the store checks the fecking signature) and keep rates down. Simple math, more fraud losses have to be made up somewhere. With credit cards, it’s made up by increases in fees/rates.
Honestly, there are not that many forgers out there who have the ability to copy your signature off a credit card. There are a lot of thieves who will happily sign your card if you don’t and use it.
[Credit Card Fraud Analyst Hat OFF]
I have been confused about this myself. After reading the answers everyone has given. It makes more sense to me. I used to wonder the same thing. If I sign the back of the card, then the thief is going to have a better chance of duplicating my signature. I didn’t know that the credit card company would hold you liable for purchases you didn’t make with an unsigned credit card. So as the saying goes you learn something everyday.
I am a server in a restaurant. I get countless cards that say “See I.D.”. And being the good server that I am 
I ask for the drivers license to verify the name and look at the signature. I do this when I go back to the table with the credit card already run so I can have him sign while I look at the drivers license and compare the signature. You wouldn’t believe how many people appreciate me doing that. I have on numerous occasions had people tell me that noone checks or asks for the id. Think about it. It would be really easy to go into a restaurant and rack up a bill on a stolen credit card. There are no cameras around watching your every move.
On the other hand, I still don’t understand the thinking on having the credit card/debit card machine out there for you to run yourself. Like at Walmart. In that case I have run the card and NEVER been asked for id. So what is up with that? If they can accept the slip signed without looking at id or even touching the credit card why can’t the post office just accept your drivers license as proof of who you are and signature? I guess I am still confused about that.
I was at the post office last week, and my signature had worn off the back of my card - I didn’t realize it had. The lady at the counter pointed it out to me and asked for my license. That was it.
Ashkicker, I think the post office cares more about security that stores. That’s all.
Ideally, the stores where you swipe your own card should ask to see the card and your ID. Either that or verify the PIN on the card electronically.
Wow, a whole world I never even knew about… I’ve never heard of anyone (deliberately)not signing their credit card.
many posts in here make absolutely no sense to me. Thankfully, there have been a few voices of reason which have already made the point I was intending.
However, one last thing needs to be pointed out. It is nearly impossible to forge someone else’s signature. People working retail get very good at checking signatures for forgeries. However, that is not the retailer’s job. The retailer’s job is to check the signatures for a match.
Second, it is my understanding that ID is not required on credit card or debit card purchases (hence the Visa commercial with Charlie/Martin Sheen, Ronde/Tiki Barber, etc). The only identification needed is to compare the signature on the back of the card with the signature on the receipt. If the signatures don’t match, that is enough to hold up in court.
My credit card charges me nothing in “fraud” fees. If the signatures don’t match, I’m not liable. It’s that simple.
Anyone who doesn’t sign his/her card is opening himself/herself up for a world of trouble.
Believe it or not Mangetout, at least one Sheriff’s Office is recommending not signing it, saying instead you should write “Ask for ID”. A-fucking-mazing!
I used to be a bank teller. I had someone arrested who was stealing checks then making fake IDs to match the name and addersss on the checks. The photo ID, name, and signature all matched.
The tip off was that the bank had received a tip earlier that day that a fraud operator was working the area.
When she came to my window, the ID just looked a bit odd. I verified the fake ID number against the customer ID number in the system. No match. I stalled her while the manager called the cops.
BUSTED!
Well, I had thought picture ID would have been more secure than a signature. But what has been said above has convinced me to add a signature as well to my credit cards. So if this save me from a fraud bill, I will owe you all a drink.
Cheers, Bippy
I have been in retail for over 25 years, and credit cards can be a big pain in the ass.
The credit card issuer has all the power in the transaction. If you (the cardholder or the retailer) don’t follow the rules, someone has to pay, and it ain’t the credit card company. I have no sympathy for cardholders or retailers who don’t get this concept. I mean, its not as if the transaction rules are hard or secret.
Card holder must sign the card, retailer must compare signatures after customer signs to make sure they “resemble”. Not hard. Transaction goes through, line moves on, retailer gets paid, customer is not ripped off.
Plus, everything is much easier now. The retailer doesn’t have to lookup your account number in a book if your amount is over $50, no extra forms have to be filled out or printed, the register spits out the charge slip, the internet, etc. So why do people (retailers and customers) make credit card transactions so hard?
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Really, what is this bit about not signing the card? Who started this? If you come into my store and your card is not signed, and I don’t personnally know you, I want photo ID. Save your self some time, and sign the card. You’re only liable for $50. Leave it blank, and its like leaving a signed blank check laying around–especially if it is a debit card also. If you want to put on “Check for ID”, go ahead, but sign the card first. One person got mad at me because she put on “Check for ID”, and I did. And she had no ID, and I declined her.
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I technically am only allowed to accept credit card transactions from the card holder–the person who’s name is on the card. When a man shows up with a card with a woman’s name on it, guess what, we’re going to question it. And don’t get pissed off at me if you’re a guy with a woman’s card, and she hasn’t signed it, and I decline you. If you claim you are the spouse, I want ID with at least the last names matching (even though I risk getting charge backs). Here’s a big hint folks–the credit card issuer will be glad to give you a personalized card for your kid, spouse, S.O., what ever and send you the bill. I have several people who ranted so much over this they deserve their own threads. (Yes, I’m looking in the direction of the guy from New York who had his wife’s card, had her with him, and didn’t understand why I wanted her to sign the slip, and not him since he paid the bills.)
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I cannot take credit cards over the phone. Period. We are a physical store, I need you to do the transaction in person, I need to verify signatures. My credit card verification does not give me name, address, phone number like mail order and internet order companies do. Don’t yell at me, I cannot verify who is calling me. I need a signature to get my money.
At one store I worked at, we had a $30,000 charge back because my Kitchen designer took a phone order for cabinets. The customer had a winter home in Florida, so the cabinets were shipped direct to him there, not to our store. His accountant disputed the credit card bill, the credit card company asked for a copy of the slip, we had no signature on it, we get a $30,000 charge back. We had to get our corporate legal staff to handle that one.
- I have no sympathy for stores either who don’t follow the rules. With all the identity theft, alot of retailers aren’t helping any. My biggest gripe is the cleck who takes your card, swipes it, gives it back, and doesn’t compare signatures. Hey, if my card gets stolen, I know it will end up in store like that. I have been temped to sign the slip with an obviosly fake name, and then dispute the bill. They have to pull the slip and fax it to the credit card company. And take the charge back when the slip shows Bill Clinton instead of Guy_from_WPA.
Sorry about the length, but credit cards are sometime a sore spot with me because THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE IF EVERY ONE WOULD JUST DO WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THEM.
There are several things you can do if you are concerned about identity theft.
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If you have a check card (MasterMoney, or Visa Check Card), always use it as a debit card when giving it to the cashier. You can also sometimes get the bank to make it just a debit card. This means you have to have a PIN number to use it. Some stores set up their verifiers to do this for you (Lowe’s is one, my store is going to.) For the retailer, it cuts down on fraud, and it cuts his transaction costs.
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Get a credit card from a company that puts your picture on it. I think CitiBank is one of them. And some have the signature from your application laminated on the face of the card.
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Sign the card, put “Ask for ID”, and give the manager hell if the cashier doesn’t.
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Follow the simple rules the credit card company has always had, and you’re only liable for $50, at most. DEBIT cards excepted, see your bank.
Please, you have the power to make this easy.
Nobody has mentioned picture-ID credit cards. If you’re really that worried about losing your credit card, get your picture put on the front. And still sign it.
Why the heck do they leave such a small space to sign the card? How can I fit my signature in that tiny little strip? What idiot thought that up?
Sorry, that should be what goat fletching idiot thought that up?
Not going to happen. I refuse to use my check card as a debit card, or use it at a store where they automatically do the transaction that way because the bank charges me a fee if I do. They don’t charge me if I hit the ‘credit’ button, and the sum is still deducted from the bank account, so guess what? I’m going to save myself a buck or two.
I like my no annual fee low APR card. If someone can’t handle at least turning my card over at a store and looking at the back of it, then they’re not doing their job and I shouldn’t have to pay higher intrest to CitiBank to have a picture of me on the front of the card.
Which isn’t good enough for me. If someone steals the card by mugging me or breaking into my house, I’m not about to be penalized anything at all, not even 50, for another person's crime. And yes, I did have it out with a credit card company over someone else using my card. My liabilty was 0.
The reason you have to sign the card is because of the legally binding contract between the store accepting the card and credit card company. It’s all legalesse and has no baring to the rest of the world besides in a court room. The same contract says you can not ask for id unless the signatures do not match. If it says check id without the signature you technically can’t ask for id.
Rev Bloodytoe
Slow me. Somebody did mention picture credit cards.
But my comment about the goats being fletched still stands.
quote:
- Follow the simple rules the credit card company has always had, and you’re only liable for $50, at most.
Which isn’t good enough for me. If someone steals the card by mugging me or breaking into my house, I’m not about to be penalized anything at all, not even 50, for another person's crime. And yes, I did have it out with a credit card company over someone else using my card. My liabilty was 0.
I said the maximum liabilty would be $50, of course I should have added the minimum liabilty would be $0. You did what you were supposed to do, I assume, so your liability was $0.
My point is: If everyone would do what they are supposed to do anyhow, you wouldn’t need to be adding notes, asking for ID, playing games.
Thank you, now that I have just those short numerical elements of your billing address, I can now run off a copy of the slip after you leave the store and later order anything I like on the Internet. Being that it’s a check card, you’ll have a hell of a time getting your bank to take off the charges, not to mention all your bounced check hassles - since check cards don’t have the same level of protection as credit cards.
This is why I don’t show ID.
-AmbushBug