Don't Sign Your Credit Card

[TehBorken]

Did you ever wonder why on the back of almost all of your credit cards and debit cards it says, "Not Valid Until Signed"?

I already know the answer, but let's play along.

To find an answer, I decided to browse through both the Visa and Mastercard web pages to see what they had to say on the matter. Short and sweet, what it all boils down to is that by signing the back of the card, you are accepting the Terms of Agreement by which that monetary device was issued to you. That's it.

They give some babble that it actually protects you from identity theft and that anyone could use the card. Wow, that seems pretty scary, huh? Actually, it made me laugh. Why? It says that if the card isn't signed, have someone present a photo ID and have them sign the card, then compare all three signatures.

Well, it's not that hard to make a fake ID these days...at least one that will fly by nearly any retail clerk during the Christmas rush. Honestly, how many times has your credit and/or debit card been verified for the signature? To give you a humorous example, check out [a  href="vny!://www.zug.com/pranks/credit/"]this web page[/a] for a very funny read.

Do you honestly want to know the real world reason why you must sign your credit and debit cards before they are valid?

Short and simple, you provide any thief a "base" of what your signature actually looks like and when those charges start racking up, it makes it all that much harder for you to disprove that you actually made those purchases.

Here's what happens. You sign your card. You lose your card. You discover the said card lost 24 hours later and call to have it cancelled. In the meantime, someone went out and bought a nice $300 leather jacket, 10 CDs, dinner at TGIF, and filled up their car with gas (notice nowadays all you have to do is to slide it in and you've got your gas?).

Now, someone has to pay for those items. Is it going to be the credit issuer? Hey, why should they? They've got a reasonable copy of your signature on the receipts so you must have bought them and are not telling the truth. Is the retailer? Nope, they verified the signature, plus in the case of fraud, it's the credit issuer that ends up footing the bill.

Have you ever had to get your way out of some fraudulent charges or know someone who has?

You'll have better luck threading a gnat's butt shut with some Cat 5 cable.

Plain and simple, it's nothing more than an attempt to save a few pennies on the part of the credit issuer. Ever hear of that "new technology" over five years ago where they could put a person's photo on the credit/debit card itself? Now why don't you think that the credit issuers do that more often? Certainly, it's not a matter of cost as we all know that the cost would get passed on to us, the consumers, anyway. The only ones I know that do it today is Bank of America and that's because I had to specifically ask for it.

Of course, a few businesses won't take the card unless it is signed simply to protect themselves and I certainly don't blame them. The US Postal Service, for one, and the Indiana BMV for another. So how do I get around that? I drive by an ATM on my way and pay with legal tender cash.

So what's my best advice for you folks this holiday season?

Don't sign your credit and/or debit cards or if you feel that you must do something, then write on the back "See Photo ID". Still not technically within the Terms of Agreement with the credit issuer, but hey, if they want to nit-pick, tell them to cancel your account and you'll look for another credit card somewhere else. Also, take anything in your wallet that has your signature on it, such as a driver's license or a firearm's card, and carry them in a different pocket. This way, your wallet with all of your credit cards in them doesn't have a signature available for the thieves to use (this has also led to some check scams, too).

If anyone works for loss prevention for any of the major credit issuers, please feel free to chime in and tell us why it is absolutely essential that the card holder must sign the card before it is valid. Arguments such as "agreeing to the terms of the agreement" and "for your security" will ring on hollow ears as that myth has been exposed.


From [a href="vny!://forums.pcapex.com/pcapex_daily_disturbance/93693-for_your_security.html"]vny!://forums.pcapex.com/pcapex_daily_disturbance/93693-for_your_security.html[/a]

[Lise]

Good advice. Really scary about identity thief these days. I've been a victim, not once but twice ever since I got my credit card.

  I rarely use mine and only on places I trust but even then I'm wary because you  never know. I try not to use my card and rely on cash.        

[49er]

I have never signed my cards......for the reason someone could forge the signature if a sample is on the card if stolen.  

  I pay all purchases w/ credit cards (if accepted) for the cash rewards or flight milage credits offered by the card companies

[Russ]

i signed mine but it has since 'worn' off.

[Moolah!]

Hmm I don't agree with some of the assertions in the original article. Also, some of the fact they presented sounded out of date.



Would take a long time to go through each and every one of them, so I'll spare you the lengthy reading.



All my credit cards are signed. I use them for 98% of my purchases. It's been years since I've handled actual cash in amounts greater than $20.



I noticed that at least 50% of the time the cashiers actually verify my signatures. So they're not all asleep.



It's not just Bank of America that offers photo CCs. CitiBank does also.



CC companies are now making a transition to chip based identification. The signature method will soon be outdated.



I've had to deal with one case of CC # theft so far, and it was handled professionally.  There're many safeguards in place now so it's not the 70s any more.


It's also worth remembering that most cards come with a Zero Liability policy.

[fletcher]

Why do credit cards have that verification number showing on the back of the card?  Shouldn't it be like a pin number and kept secret?  

[Russ]

I have a separate pin number for my credit card if I use it as an interac card or pull money out of an atm machine with it. I think the theory behind the verification number is so that you have to have the card to see the number. This way you cant just copy the number from a CC machine or look over someones shoulder and remember the number only and not have the card when you use it to buy something online or over the phone. In theory anyway.

[P.C.]

So I hear now, there is some gadget that can read the new 'safe' VISA.  The one's with the chip in them.

I know we have the technology, so I wonder why they can't make credit cards that are only readable by your thumb print or finger print.  (Car ignitions too.)

[Raver]

This summer I got new Mastercard.  I activated it and forgot to sign it.  

  I went to the mall later that day and forgot my wallet but I had the card in my pocket still, so when I got to the cashier, I had nothing else to pay with.  The girl tells me she can't accept the card without ID because its not signed.  

  As much as this was a pain in the ass for me, I knew she was jsut doing her job, so I left.  Then I got an idea.  I borrowed a pen from the lotto booth, signed the card and got back in the same check-out line and once again presented the same card to the same cashier.  This time she see's that my card was signed and no photo ID required.  

  I have rarely been asked to provide photo ID with my card unless I was making a fairly large purchase on it.  Makes you wonder what the point is.