Yes, but in the US, the waiter taking the card out of your view, doing something with it, then bringing it back is the norm. I'd never seen a restaurant do tha

Yes, but in the US, the waiter taking the card out of your view, doing something with it, then bringing it back is the norm. I'd never seen a restaurant do that in the UK. I think it's a relic of the times before handheld payment terminals existed. Also, having to decide on a tip percentage directly in front of the waiter is awkward sometimes, doing it the US way avoids that. Tipping is very common in the US.