20 years too late
Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
41–50 of 541 posts
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#42It 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…
It amazes me that cheques are still used. I'm 36 and I've never issued a cheque, I think I was issued a cheque book with my first account but never used it.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#43Also 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.
Use Apple Pay or Android Pay ... you see the charge right on your home screen and view your transactions whenever.
The receipt needs and will go the way of the dodo bird, credit card signatures and etc...
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#44Now 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.
I rented a property a couple weeks ago in Massachusetts, USA. The rental agency used a web form for signatures. My new landlord used something that looked like Comic Sans. So, I guess this is a thing now. I was a little surprised.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#45Actually, 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 u…
Yea no signature pads are pure shit.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#46Signatures haven't been required for credit cards in many other countries for quite some time now. I have often wondered why the US has historically lagged behind for everyday banking. (e.g. email money transfers, chip enabled cards, pin number verification, tap to pay)
It's especially a mystery because even developments in payments from the US (eg Apple Pay) seem more widely adopted where I am (Aus) than in the US. Anyone with some insight as to why want to chip in?
> ... chip in
Unintentional pun. The US public seems to have a huge reluctance to use the chips in the cards too. It's swipe and sign.
(I'm also from Australia and signing for a credit card purchase went away decades ago. PayWave is really popular, my 89 yo mother loves it.)
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#47It 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…
It amazes me that cheques are still used. I'm 36 and I've never issued a cheque, I think I was issued a cheque book with my first account but never used it.
Over the past 6 years, literally the only thing I've used my checkbook for was security deposit and first month's rent.
But my last two apartments required cashier's checks for both... so honestly, I don't expect to write another check my whole life.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#48Who the fuck still signs. I haven’t seen that in like 15+ years
I take it you’re not in the US? Signatures are required for the vast majority of in-person credit card transactions above $25 or so in the US.
Wow. They don’t even require you to enter a PIN number or show your id here for small amounts. Just put the card near the reader (NFC) and go. Now I understand why Apple Pay is a thing
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#49It 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…
> The only things that are checked are the digits of the amount, and the account number.
Well, the payee is also usually verified to match the destination account, and a few other elements are technically required for it to be a legal financial instrument (even if banks don't spend the time to check them every time). Legally, a check could be written on the back of a napkin and still be valid - as long as it has a few required details.
The thing I've come to learn about checks is that their security features are not necessarily intended to prevent fraud, but rather to legally prove fraud after it has occurred. So no, banks often will not check those things, but anyone with access to the ACH network can reach into anyone's account and move funds around if fraud is suspected (it's basically a shared database with surprisingly little security). It inherently relies on the legal system to sort things out after the fact, which is a completely different approach from what we see in modern information security (where preventing unauthorized access/behavior upfront is the primary concern).
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#50It 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…
It amazes me that cheques are still used. I'm 36 and I've never issued a cheque, I think I was issued a cheque book with my first account but never used it.
I'm 36 too but I've issued hundreds of checks... and also issued some indirectly (Bank of America's bill payments issue paper checks to companies when they don't accept electronic payments)