“To protect your credit card against misuse, remember to sign the back of your card before you start using it” - you will hear that every single time when you call your credit card company to activate a credit card (or a debit card for that matter).
Even the Federal Trade Commission (which, by the way, goes with the tag line of “protecting America’s consumers”) highlights that as the first tip towards guarding against credit card fraud:
Sign your cards as soon as they arrive.
Exactly how is this supposed to protect the card against misuse?
Mastercard tries to explain this on it’s website with this argument:
Sign all your payment cards as soon as you get them. This way when salespeople check the signature on the back of your card against the signature on the sales receipt, you will be protecting yourself if your card is lost or stolen.
I don’t get this for many reasons:
- Salespeople hardly ever check the signatures on the back of credit cards. This is especially true with those “self-checkout” counters found at many retail stores.
- For someone who is determined to use a stolen credit card for purchases, it’s really not difficult to forge the card’s signature on the sales receipt. So, even in the rare cases where salespeople do check the signatures, it’s very unlikely that they will detect any wrongdoing without a detailed scrutiny.
- For the above reason, just cross-checking the signature on the receipt against the one on the back of a credit card is not a sufficient deterrent; ideally, the signature on the sales receipt should be verified with a more concrete piece of evidence - like a driver’s license or a state identification card. I don’t remember when was the last time a salesman asked for my driver’s license to verify a signature - I am not even sure they are allowed to do that.
- If it turns out that an additional authentication source is required to verify the signature, then I don’t see the point of having the signature panel on credit cards in the first place.
Let’s look at these drawbacks in light of a scenario in which a fraudster tries to use a credit card that’s not signed at the back.
- In this case, the person who has stolen your card can generally sign your name (or something that looks like your name) on the back of the card (your name is printed on the front of the card, so this is a no-brainer) and recreate the same “signature” on the sales receipt.
- The only difference here is that the thief doesn’t have to practice the signature on the back of the credit card - he can create an arbitrary fake signature. So yeah, it makes it a little tiny bit easier.
- Like before, a salesperson who just verifies the signature on the sales receipt with the signature on the credit card can be easily fooled.
- Again, the only way to catch such a deceit is to verify the signatures on the sales receipt and the credit card with the signature on the driver’s license. Again, the objective is to stop the fraudulent transaction - so it just suffices to verify the signature on the sales receipt with the signature on the driver’s license (or state ID) and the signature on the credit card really doesn’t matter.
To me, there really isn’t a big difference between the two cases - whether you sign it or don’t, misusing a stolen credit card (or a debit card for non-PIN transactions) seems really easy. Makes the “sign the back of your cards” message a bit moot. I don’t think it’s enough deterrent for even a *casual* credit card thief.
Interestingly, in both cases (whether you have your signature on your credit cards or you don’t), even if you enforce sales receipt signature verification through a driver’s license, all a fraudster has to say is: “Oops, I forgot my driver’s license at home“, and he/she can easily walk away from the situation and try the scam on the next retailer. 
One good piece of advice on this issue comes from The Straight Dope:
You should believe me, as I have worked in retail, for a company that issues its own credit cards. Here’s our official advice on signing the strip on the back: Don’t sign it. It’s useless as a deterrent, as anyone who takes your card then has a sample of your signature which they can not only use on any charge slip, but on your checks as well. However, do not leave the white strip blank. In that space, write: “Ask For Picture ID,” and be prepared to back that up someday when you’re in a hurry and the clerk wants to see a driver’s license as well as the card. It makes the charge transaction a little longer, but a lot safer.
Again, this point is moot if the salespeople don’t check the back of most credit cards in the first place - you can write whatever you want in the signature panel, it’s not going to make a difference if no one ever looks at it. However, in spite of this singular loophole, writing “Ask For Picture ID” may be the best thing you can do right now - while we wait for a better security measures (or other tricks as suggested by people who comment on this post).
I am not sure, how this issue can be effectively tackled in future, but printing photographs on the front side of credit cards might be one way to address it. Your signature stays safe and away from thieves, and your face provides instant “authentication”.
~$$~
Before you go, here is an excerpt from a funny story on this issue on Zug.com:
The manager, a guy about my age with a ponytail and a goatee, came over to see what was wrong. They exchanged some hushed words, and then he rang through my purchase again. “Can you sign the screen, please?” he asked. This guy was serious.
Again I signed NOT AUTHORIZED to my $16,800 Circuit City credit card payment.
“What is that?” he asked.
“That’s my signature,” I said.
“You can’t sign it NOT AUTHORIZED.”
“Why not?”
“Because you need to sign your name.”
“Well, I recently changed my signature,” I said hopefully. “It now looks a lot like NOT AUTHORIZED.”
“It’s got to match the back of your card,” the manager said.
“Oh,” I said. “No problem.” I took the card back from him and wrote NOT AUTHORIZED on the back of my credit card. I had heard that this trick sometimes works, but this guy was too smart for me.
“No, no,” he said as I started writing. “That doesn’t count.”
“It’s never had to match before,” I said. “No one has ever cared.”
Click here to read the rest of this prank.
If you enjoy reading this blog, make sure you subscribe to my feed!
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg | Yahoo MyWeb | Google | Netscape | StumbleUponRelated Entries
- Anyone Else Addicted to Yodlee ?
- $72,900 In Debt?
- 18 Credit Cards And Not A Single Late Payment: A Guide To Efficient Credit Card Management #2
- 18 Credit Cards And Not A Single Late Payment: A Guide To Efficient Credit Card Management #1
- Free Money From Ebates And Their Referral Bonus Offer
- What Have You Got Against Credit Cards?
Personal Finance Network
If a store really follows Visa rules, they are supposed to ask you to sign the card if they see “See ID” in the signature strip. See (scroll to bottom):
http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html
To compliment with what Finance Buff said, the “See ID” thing can burn you, and it has burned me in the past. The post office won’t accept a card that doesn’t have a legitimate signature. It happened to me few years ago, both at the post office and a regular retail merchant.
In fact, according to merchant rules, any card that isn’t signed with a signature is invalid.
I do agree that it is almost worthless for protection since probably 90% of the cashiers I encounter never bother to check, and even if they did, couldn’t spot a difference. But, I have since started signing my cards after having the major inconvenience of being denied a transaction because my card wasn’t signed.
If the charge is more than $25, they almost always ask to see my card at places I shop. Occasionally I amuse myself by asking the person, “What would you do if the signatures didn’t match?” The first time I asked it, I was genuinely curious what they would do.
Almost always, they look a little confused/startlted and say, sheepishly, “I don’t know.” They probably think I’m planning on credit card fraud someday, though. I do it to make people think. (I guess half the time they’re not even looking at the signtaures, but rather are just pretending to in an automatic mode.)
Jeremy, that really surprises me. I’ve used a CC at the post office a couple dozen times, and they never looked at the signature strip any more than any retailer I’ve been to. “SEE ID” has been on my cards for years. One thing I have done before is to do both– sign the card AND write “SEE ID” on it. If they’re that concerned about seeing your signature, they’ll also see the “SEE ID” message and hopefully ask for it.
That is with anything, as even if a company has a certain policy, not everyone may follow it. Another weird situation is this one grocery store I go to is adamant in checking the back of the card, and one cashier actually questioned me because the signature looked different. That person must take their job very seriously. Unfortunately, 99% of them could care less, and a “see ID” or even valid signature means nothing.
Excellent post - I really like the idea of putting “See ID” on the signature strip. I think I will start doing that. But salespeople don’t often even look at my card, about 50% do I would guess. I also noticed that some stores don’t even require a signature any more if the amount purchased is small, say under $50.
I put the words ‘check id card’ on the back of my cards. But the salespeople hardly ever ask for it.
I always tell them ‘you need to check the id’ and see how they react. Some people get mad and some say they did not know they were supposed to do that.
Yeah, in my experience, even among those that look at the back of my card (which reads “SEE ID” in big letters), only about half will actually ask to see it. And that’s among the 10% or so that actually bother to look at the back of the card. So my guess is 1 in 20 times I use the card, I will be asked to show ID. It’s totally unacceptable, but I don’t know what can be done about it.
I worked with John Hargrave. He’s as funny in person as that Zug prank is.
The signature is a pretty good security measure, but it isn’t to protect the consumer. The signature is to protect the merchants from *YOU* or from someone pretending to be you.
When you contact your bank or credit card company and dispute a charge, the first thing VISA will ask the merchant to do is produce your signature. If it doesn’t match the one they have on file, the merchant has to refund the money. If it does match then you loose your automatic fraud protection, and have to prove that you didn’t really sign the receipt, or that your card was stolen.
If a store doesn’t check signatures, then they have decided that the risk of you issuing a chargeback is less than the cost of slowing down the checkout process. That is a fair judgment for them to make, and you shouldn’t really care if they check signatures or not. If they didn’t check a signature when they ought to have, they will lose money, you won’t.
@ Jeremy Bettis
Visa has my signature on file?
hejustslaughs: The way I understood it is the signature on the sales receipt itself is the “signature on file” - that’s why they have the merchant copy in the first place.
Jeremy, please correct me if I am wrong.
That brings up a very interesting point. To claim a fraudulent transaction, all one has to do is to sign rubbish on the sales receipt? (or not sign at all?)
It’s probably the ease of this type of fraud the very reason behind why credit card transactions are insured against fraud (?)
Jeremy Bettis–
I’m not sure that this is true. For one thing, I’m not sure my CC company has my signature at all. For another, I don’t think you lose your fraud protection just because the thief signed the receipt with a signature that was close enough (and if anything, this is an argument for NOT signing the card– as it takes away the thief’s chance to try to match your signature).
At any rate, I’ve never heard that and I’d be curious to see a link to that explanation from VISA or elsewhere.
In California I was asked for ID all the time when paying with a credit card.
My husband used to work retail, and he caught several thieves who tried to use cards marked “Please see photo ID.” He was one of the few people who would ask to see the ID, and the thieves invariably refused and got angry when he asked. (He would not sell them anything without seeing the ID.)
At his advice, I used to write “Please see photo ID” on my cards — until I, too, was not allowed to use my card at the post office without a signature. (However, I could easily have stolen a card and signed it right there in front of the clerk!) It didn’t make much of a difference, anyway — hardly anyone actually asked to see my ID.
A few years ago, a credit card company was issuing cards with the owners’ photos on them; I thought that was a great idea. Does anyone know why that practice didn’t catch on?
I just realized that something seems broken with the math check spam plugin - apparently, some readers had problems submitting their comments on this post. When I tried it a few minutes ago, I had problems too.
So, no more math plugin - enjoy the math free days.
I have to agree, people barely look at the back of my card to verify my signature and I have bad penmanship.
One little trick to know about when signing the back of the card is to sign it using permanent marker, the fine tip. That way your signature stands out.
I worked in retail for only a few months (thank goodness) during a summer and I constantly got thanked because I ask to see ID. However, the truth of the matter is that the signature on the back of the card means that the person agrees to the terms of the credit card… that’s why Visa wants merchants to have people sign the credit card/debit cards on the back. They talk about fraud prevention, etc. etc. but I think they realize it’s not a very effective deterrent.
Wow, as someone who has worked on commission in retail; I did not appreciate that “funny” story at all, once I read the full story. I can’t believe someone would actually be MEAN enough to go into a place where someone works on commission, knowing that person would probably make a buttload of money on that commission, and attempt to buy something, knowing they really had no intention of allowing the purchase to go through, just to make a point. Believe me, a lot of commission workers like that do not make an awful lot of money, that would have ruined my day, if not my whole week. I don’t know how the person could not feel like a complete and total dick after doing that to someone.
In other news, I agree with signing “Check for ID” on the back.
There are two relevant bits of information to this, both on page 29 of the “Rules for Visa Merchants” document available at http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/rules_for_visa_merchants.pdf.
1. ‘Some customers write “See ID” or “Ask for ID” in the signature panel, thinking that this is a deterrent against fraud or forgery; that is, if their signature is not on the card, a fraudster will not be able to forge it. In reality, criminals don’t take the time to practice signatures: they use cards as quickly as possible after a theft and prior to the accounts being blocked. They are actually counting on you not to look at the back of the card and compare signatures—they may even have access to counterfeit identification with a signature in their own handwriting. “See ID” or “Ask for ID” is not a valid substitute for a signature. The customer must sign the card in your presence, as stated above.’
2. ‘Although Visa rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID, merchants cannot make an ID a condition of acceptance. Therefore, merchants cannot refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to provide ID. Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of their regular card acceptance procedures. Laws in several states also make it illegal for merchants to write a cardholder’s personal information, such as an address or phone number, on a sales receipt.’
The upshot of this is it’s useless to follow through with the steps suggested by this article.
I also used to print “see photo ID” in big bold letters on the backs of my cards. However, Oregon (and probably a lot of other states) has replaced the physical signature on driver’s licenses with an electronic one. The first time I renewed my license under this new system, my signature looked even more like chicken scratches than my actual signature because 1) the new system came as a surprise 2) I wasn’t prepared for the fact that the stylus had a very high drag coefficient on the electronic board and 3) they don’t give ‘do overs.’ Now “check signature on ID” is totally worthless.
A few years back, I worked at a music store. The manager, a short Hispanic male, would often give his credit card to an employee to have the employee go buy lunch or snacks. His credit card had his photo on it. I’m a white male, and never had a problem using his card. The female workers also never had a problem using it.
I haven’t signed the back of any of my debit cards in a few years. It has always worked at the post office (multiple locations), and no one has ever asked me to sign the back of it. Often, they’ll see the “Ask for ID” and just swipe it and hand it back. I’m usually surprised when they do ask.
I’m a cashier at a grocery store, I check the signatures, I check the IDs.
Criminals do not forge signatures. I /promise/ you. I tried it myself one time, and if you’re skilled enough to do it (and remember, you don’t have much time, people usually cancel that day), you’re smart enough to just find a cashier that doesn’t check signatures.
And most of us don’t. I’ll be honest. Getting people to do it has been a hellish experience, mostly because of the customers.
Why? Because you guys can’t sign your own names properly to save your lives. So I ask for ID half the time when the guy’s written his signature. It’s really him, it’s a BC’s driver license, and nobody bought a forged license to buy $50 of groceries from a grocery store.
No, you’re just all illiterate and can’t sign your names to save your life. Far as I’m concerned, we should just ID everybody who buys with a credit card, forget the damn signature thing entirely.
Incidentally, if all you write is ‘SEE ID’, VISA won’t recompense you at all. A friend of mine lost $3000 because VISA said that by not signing, he didn’t accept the terms, thus was responsible for the whole thing. If you’re really desperate, write that and your signature REALLY REALLY SMALL.
I work for a hotel and have for the last 9 years. So I have handled my share of cards. I have seen several tricks that consumers use to protect them selves. The sign vs. not sign. If you read the fine print below the signature strip “card not valid unless signed” and should actually be refused by the merchant. I accept them with ID but I admit that I don’t always look for a signature. Now I also have SEE ID written in big letters on both the front and back of my cards and people don’t even ask for my id. I have seen some stop and read it just to ignore it and procede with the transaction. Now if you leave it unsigned and I just so happen to get a hold of it, sign it and use it before you find it missing. Now my signature will match the back of the card.
I did self checkout last week, and I had previously read something about this debate, and instead of signing my name on the machine, I drew a stick person in the signature box. Immature, maybe, but it made me smile a little on a bad day.
I’m really not worried about it, as I’m not even liable if someone steals my card.
I use credit cards because I don’t want the hassle of showing ID. I have been using credit cards for last 30 years, I lost my wallet twice with multiple credit cards in it. Both times thieves charged, both times credit card companies took charges off. I just sign on the back of the card (after all that is what they ask me to do), and use the credit card. I think been paranoid and pulling IDs out every time is a waste of time and energy.
I do both. I sign and put “Please see photo ID” They don’t always ask but if they do, I make sure to thank them. (In the olden days when you had to go to a store to buy a CD, often the teen behind the counter would mouth “Please see photo ID” and then hand the card back to me.)
I once had a card that just said “See photo ID” but wasn’t signed. They made me sign it right there in front of them. Then they checked it against the receipt I had just signed in front of them. Satisfied that the two matched, they handed the card back to me and handed me the bag with my purchase.
I am amazed at all the bad information added to this post.
Any writing OTHER than your signature makes the credit card invalid, according to your card agreement. The merchant agreements Visa and MasterCard have with retailers do not allow them to accept cards that are not signed. The merchant must either ask you to sign the card and check an ID with a signature, or refuse the transaction.
Also, both Visa and MasterCard do not permit merchants to ask for an ID when processing a charge. It is considered an invasion of privacy and is unecessary.
What matters is the authorization code and that the merchant used due diligence to check that the signature you just signed on the slip reasonably matches the back of your card.
That’s it. If that happens, the merchant is covered. And you are protected.
These silly, naive practices (writing SEE ID) are largely not effective, violate a consumer’s privacy, and just hold up the line.
That’s it.
kermit: I guess you are missing the whole point of the post. How exactly is signing the card *protecting* against card fraud? Why is this “sign your card” message repeated over and over again as a measure against protection from illegal use? You will probably need to go over the post again to figure out why I am asking these questions.
@ “Any writing OTHER than your signature makes the credit card invalid, according to your card agreement. The merchant agreements Visa and MasterCard have with retailers do not allow them to accept cards that are not signed.” - it’s one thing to say something in a credit card agreement, and another to have mechanisms in place for effective implementation. How many people who have written “See ID” in the signature panel have been refused credit card transactions? - in spite of whatever the card agreement says. What’s the meaning of “not allow to accept cards that are not signed” when almost 99% of all transactions are done without even looking at the signature panel?
Have you used those electronic signing machines? how many times has your signature been *reasonably* close to the signature on the card? What happens when it’s not reasonably close - the merchants are not protected?
It’s not a question of whether are not your are protected - credit cards are insured against fraudulent transactions - it’s the question about what is the logic behind increased fraud protection and signature on the back panel - and what else can be done to improve fraud protection.
I personally would never show an ID to a store clerk for a credit card transaction. What if the clerk is the one perpetrating credit card fraud which has happened countless times? Now they not only have your credit card number but also most likely your billing address as well.
As someone from the UK I find this business of not signing a credit or debit card very strange. At the moment we use Chip & Pin (the card checks that you are the correct user) but I have worked in retail before and after its introduction. If a card was not signed, signature had rubbed off or had “ask for ID” on it would require a sanction from your bank. Now depending on the time of day the procedure of obtaining a sanction can take up to 5-10 minutes. Your bank your bank would never sanction the transaction and ask us to retain the card if safe to do so.
Also if your are not from the UK I have no clue what your ID looks like and how to spot a fake.
What those in the US should be scared of is “skimming”. This is were your details on the card are stolen by someone you hand over the card with a card reader. This can then be programed on an other bank card. In the UK chip & pin transactions are currently not affected by this attack as the original card has to be in the machine to authenticate the user. In restaurants they now all have wireless chip and pin machines they bring to the table.
I don’t sign my cards either, mostly because my signature simply doesn’t fit well on that narrow strip.
Very rarely do sales clecks even check to see if there is a signature there. When they do, most simply ignore the fact that it’s not there (it’s like an automatic, meaningless motion for them). On rare occassions, especially at Best Buy, I get asked to show my ID, and I am glad to do so.
Signing the back of your card really is a meaningless gesture.
If you write “SEE ID” on the back of your card and I happen to find it, the first thing I’m going to do is go get a fake ID with my picture and your name on it. And me signing your name the way I like to sign it.
Yet another reason why writing “SEE ID” is a ridiculously stupid idea.
You really think a clerk, just by looking at your ID, is going to remember your real name, your credit card number, and your billing address?
Do you have any idea how many people you see a day working as a cashier? Mine is /half/ as busy as the store across town, and I see on average 200-250 people a day. I would see your ID for about three seconds - long enough to catch your name, check it to your face, and then be done with it.
If somebody has the resources required to produce a fake ID, they have the resources required to simply copy your signature if it’s there. So, essentially, if they’re at the point where they can break the ‘SEE ID’ thing, you’re screwed to begin with no matter what you do.
But seriously, what you’re suggesting is that somehow a cashier can remember someone’s billing address, name, and credit card number within five seconds, and is using this brilliant mind…working at a grocery store? Are you people insane?
I can’t believe this. Without exaggeration, I found this post (via the Carnival of PF) exactly seven seconds after I signed the back of a new credit card. D’oh!
In it doesn’t matter as almost no retailers accept CCs (think about that for a moment)and the few that do (usually in airports) never asked for ID or checked the signature. Fast forward a few years and we’re living in Madrid and everyone accepts and THEY ALWAYS ASK FOR ID. We went to the UK over Christmas last year and not a single person ever asked for ID. Same when we went home to Canada a few weeks ago. Not only did no one ask us for ID they always gave the card back (and I put away) without ever checking the signature. I often signed my wife’s Amex card for her.
@Lulu, Brad, and anyone else who thinks it’s “totally unacceptable” that cashiers don’t take the time (and potentially hold up a line of customers) to ask for ID: I’d just like to know why, if people care so much, they don’t automatically hand over their ID (or at least have it ready) when they’re paying for something.
I see a lot of cards signed with SEE ID in big, authoritative letters, yet none of these people are ever making ready to hand over their ID. If I did ask in every case, I’d annoy a lot of people (including my supervisors).
Maybe this would be different if I worked somewhere where high dollar transactions took place, but don’t treat a low-wage- earning cashier as some sort of important defense against fraud. Your card is your responsibility, as far as I’m concerned, and it’s plenty easy to keep track of your accounts online.
I work for a bank. Tellers are instructed not to accept debit or CC’s that are not signed. Occasionally a customer will insist on signing the card in front of the teller. The teller won’t accept that either.
Slightly different issue. Our replacement Visa cards came in the same envelope. Without checking too closely I signed the back of mine and put it in my wallet. A week later I noticed that I had signed and was using my wife’s card. It’s been a year now and no one has refused a charge by either me or my wife.
I wouldn’t say it’s useless. They don’t check in the US but check everywhere else.
Why not write “SEE SIGNATURE ON PHOTO ID”? Although it wouldn’t be fraud proof it would be harder for a thief to use your card and would protect merchants from chargebacks.
And I don’t see how showing a Photo ID with a signature is an invasion of privacy or against the terms of a credit card company. The merchant already has my credit card number and name at their fingertips, how would a photo change anything? I am also providing my signature - just by the use of another card.
It’s the merchants fault in chargebacks for not crosschecking the signatures and my fault in fraud for putting my signature directly on the credit card.
I’ve always wondered why they don’t implement a pin number like they have with debit cards. It’s as quick as signing and it’s safer to let the computer do the checking. It’s not foolproof either, but it’s a lot better.
The concept of comparing signatures or photos is so outdated anyway. Not only do cashiers rarely check the back of the card, but nowadays you rarely even give them your card…you swipe it yourself and sign it digitally, and they never see your card or your signature. So they wouldn’t even notice a “See Photo ID” comment or your photo physically on the card.
Signing the back of your credit card can help, a bit, if you write “please show photo ID.” Then, the clerk must ask the holder of the card to present a photo ID, so this can help a bit. Nonetheless, anyone with a credit card SHOULD check in with his or her C/C balance every day, or 48 hours. This will ensure the holder is not taken for a ride, or if this does happen, the free-ride of the charger is limited to one or two days only. Nice article - many thanks for sharing. Regards, Keith Johnson, Author “365 Great Affirmations”