The only time I ever sign for credit card stuff is when I visit the US. When it comes to banking it feels like the US is always chasing Canada who is always chasing Europe.
Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
131–140 of 541 posts
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#132It 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…
That has not been my experience. I've had multiple checks rejects for mis-matches between the written out line, and the numeric amount. I've also had checks deducted based on the written amount and the numeric amount ignored.
In the old days, they would print a computer-readable version of the amount on the bottom of the check, right-justified with the account number. Once that was there, most banks just processed that, and ignored the rest of the check.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#133Also 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.
No they don't. Here in Australia, a lot of stores (esp. cafes) will ask before giving you a receipt for low-value transactions.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#134It 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…
This is untrue. The signature and the amount in cursive do matter, but not in the way most people think, they matter only after the fact. If a check is unsigned and someone cashes it then you can usually get that money back in small claims court, though not always. Or if the signature doesn't match on a check you can use that to convince your bank that the check is fraudulent. Also, if the amount that the check was cashed for differs from the amount written in cursive, again you have avenues of redress there including small claims court.
As you say, none of this will prevent basically any amount of money from being withdrawn from your account however. But you do absolutely have routes available to you to get your money back. If your bank blamed you instead and didn't let you know what options you had then you had a shitty bank that rolled you, you should get a new bank (or a credit union).
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#135It 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.
YMMV. Simple won't let me deposit a check made out to "Me and Wife" in my personal account - I can only deposit it in our joint. They'll permit me to deposit "Me OR Wife".
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#136I took my new chip enabled CC to Germany 3 yrs ago and paid for a train ticket with it. The clerk said "ugh an American card" and had me sign some random piece of paper. I felt like an antique.
Most European cards use Chip & PIN with pin preference: If the terminal supports it the card will ask for a chip instead of a signature. Chip-based signature transactions are only used as fallback if the terminal doesn't support pins (which is very uncommon).
Unfortunately most US cards don't use a pin code at all. There are a few issuers that provide you with a pin code, but even in those cases there's typically a signature preference and the pin code is only used as fallback if the terminal doesn't support signatures. So if you're using a US card in Europe pretty much the only places where you can use the pin code are automated terminals (e.g., at train stations). At most other places you're going to have to use a signature.
There are a few US issuers that issue Chip & PIN cards with PIN preference - for example UNFCU and First Tech Credit Union. Those cards work great in Europe, but are sometimes a pain to use in the US. E.g., if you're paying at a restaurant and you have to go with the waiter to the terminal in some backroom, because the terminal asks for the pin. That's not an issue in Europe, as waiters usually carry mobile terminals with them.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
For Visa, the merchant should require your card to be signed because a card with no signature is invalid. Other credit card companies are probably the same. > Unsigned Cards > While checking card security features, you should also make sure that the card is signed. An unsigned card is considered invalid and should not be accepted. If a customer gives you an unsigned card, the following steps must be taken: > • Check…
I stopped signing credit cards several years ago, as an experiment; how long will it take someone to notice? I'm still waiting.
Same here but I have had maybe 3 out of several thousands of transactions where the cashier asked to see my id because it wasn't signed..
The signature generally smears off after a few weeks anyways.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#138It 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…
Just last November I miswrote a check where the digits and written amount differed, and it was processed for the written amount, which has traditionally been the controlling value.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#139It's high time. Nothing irritates me more than a cashier asking for my signature.
Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
#140Once in the UK, the cashier didn't want to take my credit card because there was no signature on the back. I wondered, which kind of graphology training do Tesco cashiers go through in order to be able to identify a fake signature?
I travel a lot between the US and Europe and the cultures are very different:
In the US I have my real signature at the back of the card but I just draw a straight line when signing the receipt. No one ever complained about that.
In Europe I sign with my real signature (because I know that cashiers there are more strict) and even then sometimes hear complaints that the signature on the receipt doesn't exactly match the one on the card.