Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S.
9th April 2018
I use ApplePay, so I can’t remember the last time I had to do a signature for a charge.
For nearly a decade, Doug Taylor, a sales manager who travels often for work, has signed credit card receipts with a doodle of a dog wagging its tail.
No cashier has ever rejected his “signature” as invalid.
“It gets a laugh, most of the time,” said Mr. Taylor, 44, who lives in Mobile, Ala. “Or they just glance at it and don’t really notice.”
Credit card networks are finally ready to concede what has been obvious to shoppers and merchants for years: Signatures are not a useful way to prove someone’s identity. Later this month, four of the largest networks — American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa — will stop requiring them to complete card transactions.
On the signature line of the card, I write PLEASE CHECK ID. I am rarely asked.