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Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

nytimes.com

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Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#31

Post by gruez »

skookumchuck wrote: post #17

It turns out that a signature on a bank check means nothing. Neither does the payer name on the check. Not the amount in cursive. Nor does the check paper. The only things that are checked are the digits of the amount, and the account number. The rest of the check can be complete garbage, and the check will go through and the bank will pay it. Then the banks will blame you, the account holder. I learned this the hard…

>Then the banks will blame you, the account holder.

even in cases of fraud?

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#33

Post by skookumchuck »

gruez wrote: post #31
skookumchuck wrote: post #17

It turns out that a signature on a bank check means nothing. Neither does the payer name on the check. Not the amount in cursive. Nor does the check paper. The only things that are checked are the digits of the amount, and the account number. The rest of the check can be complete garbage, and the check will go through and the bank will pay it. Then the banks will blame you, the account holder. I learned this the hard…

>Then the banks will blame you, the account holder. even in cases of fraud?

Yes. They said I'm obliged to audit the checks myself each month.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#34

Post by unethical_ban »

paul7986 wrote: post #11

Also please make handing me a receipt extinct too or only if requested. Especially at drive thru(s) where the receipts become trash I later have to do work .. aka clean up this annoying trash in my car.

Nope. They have to give you proof of what you bought for the thousands of times a day across the country there is a quarrel with the order.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#35

Post by techsupporter »

matte_black wrote: post #20
miketery wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Provide an index sheet attached to a stack of papers acknowledging documents included (title, version, date on document, page count). Check by each line, one signature overall.

Nope, too easy to argue you signed a bunch of things you did not see. I want each page initialed and important disclaimers signed at the location they appear. Will make it much easier for me in court. Much harder for you.

I have a genuine question, and because text doesn’t convey emotion I want to be very clear that my curiosity is genuine: what is it that you’re doing that is, by appearance to me, a common transaction (perhaps multiple times per day?) wherein you want to be absolutely sure that the customer assented to lengthy terms and conditions and you’re often going into court (at least so often that you want it to be “easier for” you)?

And, as a follow-up, how does this relate to a signature being used as confirmation of payment? (Or did you mean in relation to the signatures for housing transfers?)

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#36

Post by baddox »

matte_black wrote: post #6
macintux wrote: post #3

Now if we could only eliminate them for everything else. Buying and selling houses is excruciating thanks to the number of signatures required. I went to a closing on behalf of my then-wife who didn’t want to deal with it; because it was her house we were selling, I had to sign all the paperwork on her behalf, which involved a signature plus some additional verbiage. My hand was in pain by the time we were finished.

Most of the time a signature isn’t for verification but rather for acknowledgment. I don’t give two shits what you put down as a signature, I just want a record that you consciously were present and signed something, so I don’t get accused of trying to pass off something quietly that you never agreed to. If I have some scribble you made at a time and place, the onus is on you to prove it wasn’t you who did that.

My recent apartment lease was delivered online, but required me to go through every page and click a button that filled in my initials in a cursive font. It’s silly, yes, but I’m sure it’s just there to “prove” that I acknowledged each page individually.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#37

Post by simonsarris »

paul7986 wrote: post #11

Also please make handing me a receipt extinct too or only if requested. Especially at drive thru(s) where the receipts become trash I later have to do work .. aka clean up this annoying trash in my car.

That and touching thermal paper is a source of lots of BPA exposure. (Many but not all receipts.)

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#38

Post by cryptoz »

StillBored wrote: post #30

Actually, doing away with the signature seems a bit odd, given all the machine learning flying around. An electronic signature that records the speed strokes in the signature are made, as well as the final result, is probably a really good way of identifying the purchaser. Of course then a lot of the smaller merchants would have to upgrade their 90's era dial-up credit card processing.

> An electronic signature that records the speed strokes in the signature are made, as well as the final result, is probably a really good way of identifying the purchaser.

Not so sure about that. If I use a different mouse then my "signature" using those metrics will fail, as I'm basically a completely different (inept) person using other mice. Just an example, but I don't think that e-signatures can be trusted by using machine learning techniques, at least not any that I know of today.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#40

Post by paul7986 »

jlblatt wrote: post #21
paul7986 wrote: post #11

Also please make handing me a receipt extinct too or only if requested. Especially at drive thru(s) where the receipts become trash I later have to do work .. aka clean up this annoying trash in my car.

Doesn't a drive thru also hand you a disposable bag filled with a bunch of other stuff that's about to become trash- napkins, wrappers, straws, etc...? Just toss it in there dude, try not to let it bother you.

Nope they all hand me the receipt when the hand me back my bank card. Then I have to deal with a bag of food, a drink, placing my bank card back in my wallet and dropping the receipt wherever to drive off quickly!

The receipt needs to go the way of signatures and hopefully soon.

Not sure if you are a UX person, but the receipt in 2018 is bad UX for the customer and the business! Just like signatures have been for years..pointless, frustrating and annoying!

I wish I could use Apple Pay everywhere!!!

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