5 ms·

Signatures are already worthless. No one verifies them anyway. It's just a fancy way of saying "I agree". If you don't believe me, next time you use a credit c

by Fej 9y ago

Signatures are already worthless. No one verifies them anyway. It's just a fancy way of saying "I agree". If you don't believe me, next time you use a credit card with signature, just scribble on the pinpad. No one will bat an eye.

coldtea 9y ago
>Signatures are already worthless. No one verifies them anyway. It's just a fancy way of saying "I agree". They are not meant to be verified on the spot. They are meant to be verified as a record IF and WHEN a dispute occurs.
- nemeth88 9y ago
  Credit card signatures are intended to be verified on the spot. That's why the back of the card says it isn't valid until signed. The cashier was originally supposed to compare the signature on the card to the signature made at point of sale to verify the CC holder's identity. https://consumerist.com/2014/07/19/10-answers-to-credit-card-questions-we-get-asked-all-the-time/ https://consumerist.com/2014/07/19/10-answers-to-credit-card... Of course this doesn't happen, and for good reason too since the signature made on a resistive touchscreen ends up looking nothing like that on the credit card.
  - danek 9y ago
    Also none of my cards are signed because when I do sign them, the ink rubs off after a few days! So I assume the whole signature system is purely ceremonial at this point. Or at the least it's a way to say a human was present with a physical card.
  - notheguyouthink 9y ago
    I'm curious though, how does that apply to other people using your card? For example, my wife wants to use my CC so we asked our CC company what we need to do to add her, to make her a valid signature. The answer? Nothing. I can have anyone I want use my card. They sign it with anything they want. It's up to me down the road to claim fraudulent charges, and if I do, the person who signed is the one committing fraud. This was two cards, both Visa cards offered from different companies. Wouldn't that be at odds with what you've mentioned here?
    - Veratyr 9y ago
      Merchants shouldn't be accepting other people using your card, no matter their claimed relationship to you. If you want your wife to be able to use it, you get her added as an Authorized User and she gets a new card with the same number but her name and her signature.
      - notheguyouthink 9y ago
        > If you want your wife to be able to use it, you get her added as an Authorized User and she gets a new card with the same number but her name and her signature. Yea.. but who do we get her added with? Because, as i said, we tried that. We called to get her added, see what we need, etc. They said nothing. They literally said anyone can use my card, and it's assumed fine until i dispute it later. So we literally tried to get her added, but couldn't - they said it's not needed, and that was that. This happened for both cards, lol.
    - jandrese 9y ago
      CC companies are usually more than happy to issue another card on your account with a different name if you ask.
  - Tyrannosaur 9y ago
    I was told that if that was once the case, it is the case no longer- really the signature is only to verify that someone was there to have made the purchase, to decrease the store's liability if it is a fraudulent charge. This is why the charge to the card goes through before you have to sign anything. Even on pos systems where you sign on the screen, I get the text message notifying me that my card was charged even before I start to sign on the screen.
telesilla 9y ago
Instead of signing my credit card, I write "Ask for ID". Most vendors don't check the signature anyway, but those who do are usually prompted to ask for my ID, which is my hoped outcome. I've been a victim of credit fraud several times via both theft and skimming so it's an interesting topic to me.
- scruple 9y ago
  That hasn't been my experience at all. I write "Please Check ID" in the signature block on my cards and I think that, in the last 9 years that I've been doing this, I've been asked for my ID all of one or two times. I do notice when cashiers, etc..., flip the card around and I just don't think they actually read or process what is written there. Or they just don't care.
  - seanp2k2 9y ago
    They flip the card to see where the strip is in order to swipe it correctly. That's it.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    I get asked for my ID when I hand the card to the cashier. I never get asked if the card is one of those self serv terminals.
marak830 9y ago
I often use my wife's credit card, very rarely asked for a signature. When I do I just sign her name, looks nothing like her signature haha.

by Fej 9y ago

coldtea 9y ago

>Signatures are already worthless. No one verifies them anyway. It's just a fancy way of saying "I agree". They are not meant to be verified on the spot. They are meant to be verified as a record IF and WHEN a dispute occurs.

nemeth88 9y ago
Credit card signatures are intended to be verified on the spot. That's why the back of the card says it isn't valid until signed. The cashier was originally supposed to compare the signature on the card to the signature made at point of sale to verify the CC holder's identity. https://consumerist.com/2014/07/19/10-answers-to-credit-card-questions-we-get-asked-all-the-time/ https://consumerist.com/2014/07/19/10-answers-to-credit-card... Of course this doesn't happen, and for good reason too since the signature made on a resistive touchscreen ends up looking nothing like that on the credit card.
- danek 9y ago
  Also none of my cards are signed because when I do sign them, the ink rubs off after a few days! So I assume the whole signature system is purely ceremonial at this point. Or at the least it's a way to say a human was present with a physical card.
- notheguyouthink 9y ago
  I'm curious though, how does that apply to other people using your card? For example, my wife wants to use my CC so we asked our CC company what we need to do to add her, to make her a valid signature. The answer? Nothing. I can have anyone I want use my card. They sign it with anything they want. It's up to me down the road to claim fraudulent charges, and if I do, the person who signed is the one committing fraud. This was two cards, both Visa cards offered from different companies. Wouldn't that be at odds with what you've mentioned here?
  - Veratyr 9y ago
    Merchants shouldn't be accepting other people using your card, no matter their claimed relationship to you. If you want your wife to be able to use it, you get her added as an Authorized User and she gets a new card with the same number but her name and her signature.
    - notheguyouthink 9y ago
      > If you want your wife to be able to use it, you get her added as an Authorized User and she gets a new card with the same number but her name and her signature. Yea.. but who do we get her added with? Because, as i said, we tried that. We called to get her added, see what we need, etc. They said nothing. They literally said anyone can use my card, and it's assumed fine until i dispute it later. So we literally tried to get her added, but couldn't - they said it's not needed, and that was that. This happened for both cards, lol.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    CC companies are usually more than happy to issue another card on your account with a different name if you ask.
- Tyrannosaur 9y ago
  I was told that if that was once the case, it is the case no longer- really the signature is only to verify that someone was there to have made the purchase, to decrease the store's liability if it is a fraudulent charge. This is why the charge to the card goes through before you have to sign anything. Even on pos systems where you sign on the screen, I get the text message notifying me that my card was charged even before I start to sign on the screen.

telesilla 9y ago

Instead of signing my credit card, I write "Ask for ID". Most vendors don't check the signature anyway, but those who do are usually prompted to ask for my ID, which is my hoped outcome. I've been a victim of credit fraud several times via both theft and skimming so it's an interesting topic to me.

scruple 9y ago
That hasn't been my experience at all. I write "Please Check ID" in the signature block on my cards and I think that, in the last 9 years that I've been doing this, I've been asked for my ID all of one or two times. I do notice when cashiers, etc..., flip the card around and I just don't think they actually read or process what is written there. Or they just don't care.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  They flip the card to see where the strip is in order to swipe it correctly. That's it.
- jandrese 9y ago
  I get asked for my ID when I hand the card to the cashier. I never get asked if the card is one of those self serv terminals.

marak830 9y ago

I often use my wife's credit card, very rarely asked for a signature. When I do I just sign her name, looks nothing like her signature haha.