Credit Cards, "SEE ID" and My Sanity

My Biggest Pet Peeve as a Retail Clerk

Published on December 27, 2003 By Frog Attack In Consumer Issues

Everyone I meet has a different take on this. This is my take and what I know from my experience:

Where I work, we have a company policy print-out that paraphrased basically says "All credit cards must be signed according to the rules of all three major credit card processors, (AmEx, Discover, and FDMS). If a customer's card is not signed or has "check id" written on it, please ask for two forms of ID to verify that they are the cardholder and then have them sign the card."

In a nutshell.

About once a day I get somebody whose card is UNSIGNED or has SEE ID but no signature. First let me deal with the UNSIGNED.

Sometimes it is a new card and they just forgot. No biggie, I see the drivers license, another ID and hey swipe away!

But sometimes they are like "I don't sign my credit cards." ??? Huh? Okay, at every job I have worked at it is policy (as dictated by the CREDIT CARD COMPANIES who write OPERATING PROCEDURES that RETAILERS must agree to when making a contract to accept credit cards) to check signatures. I am well aware that a lot of places do not check at all. I cannot help that. I can only tell you the things I have found out for myself and how I do my job. That's all I can do. I know I have always been trained to check signatures. A few companies will also train their employees to ask for ID on top of the signature comparison, BUT this is actually against credit card companys Operating Prodecures. They want their cards to be accepted easily, and so the only reason they would want you to ask for ID is IF AND ONLY IF the signatures do not match. However, there are some states that have passed laws allowing companies to ask for ID with credit card purchases so that they are not violating their contracts with the credit card companies. Oh I should point out I have no idea if any of this BS operating procedure stuff is ever enforced. I mean, has any person ever called up VISA and said "such and such gas station asked to see ID" and then VISA sends them a memo or something saying "it is against our Ops Procedure you AGREED to to ask for ID unless you suspect fraud". I doubt it.

Okay okay, where was I. Okay my point was the people who's card is unsigned.... well, if somebody steals your card and they sign the card, they can go use it and EVEN IF a cashier is doing his job, i.e. checking the signatures guess what of COURSE the thief's signature on the card they stole will match the signature on the slip!

I think that most people assume that clerks are always supposed to check ID with a credit card purchase, especially where I work in the Military Community because they are so used to presenting ID anyway. But remember, asking for ID is actually NOT credit card company's policy, checking signatures is.

Also now would be a good time to point out that on VISA and MASTERCARD it says right on the back of your card "NOT VALID UNLESS SIGNED". My company didn't print that there, your bank did. If you don't like it, guess what, bubba joe jack, don't have a freaking credit card.

Now --- okay some things like you could use the card online OF COURSE without a signature and all that, I mean that is fine and dandy, but it doesn;t change the fact that my COMPANY requires me to ask you to sign your card. Okay? So you can stand there and argue with me if you want but I'm doing my job and I mean, I'm one of the good guys, I mean I'm LOOKING at your card. One reason it's so easy for people to use stolen credit cards is there is not enough vigilance. I really really hate confrontation. I am not doing this as a game. I am not paid enough to deal with the "I will not sign my credit card" people.

Now on to the "CHECK ID" people. If you have a signature and check id, I will always ask to see your ID. Okay? happy? If you have CHECK ID WITHOUT A SIGNATURE your card is still invalid. I have had people say "yes but according to this and that lawbook any mark there is a signature" well... that may be true but it doesn't help me out one bit. I have my company policy which states otherwise and also VISA's website states otherwise.

Link To VISA's POLICY ONLINE

People will say "(sigh) I called my bank and they said I don't have to sign". Well, that's all well and good but my general manager will NOT let me take a card without a signature in that little space there. And who is working at these banks? A LOT of banks have it on their websites that you have to sign your credit cards so WHO are these people speaking to when they call?

Most people will simply sign their cards if I politely explain the company policy and sometimes I have to show them the print-outs I've gathered (this is how much effort goes into this, I actually have print-outs!) and some will even act surprised when I show them the verbiage on their card "MUST BE SIGNED TO BE VALID".

Somebody told me that the signature thing has to do with liability. If you have SEE ID on your card and somebody steals it, you never signed it and any purchases they make YOU or the company that accepted your INVALID card is liable. Now, who has more money, YOU or the Wal-Mart where the shmuch just took a card that said "see id" with no signature. Wal-Mart duh so they are going to pay for that purchase. It's called a chargeback. I am not sure how accurate this explanation is but it does seem to make sense. Why else would any company jump through hoops to enforce people signing their cards unless they knew that everytime somebody disputed a charge and it the card had SEE ID on it with NO SIGNATURE they were going to pay for it?

The bottom line is this : Nobody can make you sign your credit card, but I cannot take a card without a signature. It;s not my decision, it's not my rule, I am adhering to what I was trained to do. That;s very nice that you have used the card everywhere else with no problem but that has no bearing on the here and now. I do feel for you. I do. I know you are trying to protect yourself. But no sir, I still cannot take this credit card.

---I.W.A.

Comments

messybuu

on Dec 27, 2003

When I obtained my first credit card, I didn't sign it because I thought it was safer, but eventually I did sign it, but it was not until today that I noticed that "Not Valid Unless Signed" message below it. I guess since people can forge signatures though, that many, including myself, don't feel that signatures are good enough.

Superpsych

on Dec 28, 2003

Good point. I'll tell you a quick story - I have a debit card, and the signature is almost rubbed off (I need to organise a new card!). I go into shops and actually TELL them that I have a dodgy signature on my card, and would they like to see my ID? I had one woman say "No, I usually believe people like you because you're not likely to be making it up"!!

In a way she was right, but it still made me a little worried!!

H

Normalizer

on Jan 21, 2004

I am a window clerk at the 3rd largest (in revenue) post office in TN. This is one of my worst pet peeves. Management requires I enforce the rule but customers go absolutely freaking bezerk about it.... I try and enforce the rules the USPS and the credit card companies made, but sometimes it's easier to just ignore and swipe. The only time I really go after them is when they are generally nasty customers to begin with, and when they refuse to sign I make a big deal of getting management out and somtimes threaten to cut the card.... just for kicks and giggles, I never actually do it. Management ALWAYS gives in and tells me to run the card regardless.... nobody cares anymore.

I look at it this way. Credit card security is ultimately the job of the cardholder, not the merchant. If your card is lost or stolen all you have to do is report it to the issuer, and they will put a hold on the card. Knowing this, if my card reader accepts the sale as far as I care it's a good card. The same with checks.... we are required to get TWO Id's with checks, but who has that? What is "ID?" Most everybody has a driver's license, but who carries a passport with them to buy stamps? I've taken blockbuster and library cards, even home printed business cards as the 2nd form of ID.... hey, if you are gonna run bad checks with the US Government you have bigger things to deal with than a snippy postal clerk. And since all checks are also run through a computerized authorization system, if the 'puter says it's good that's good enough for me.

Still though, it does the heart good to refuse service to some people sometimes....

Not so snippy clerk

on Sep 10, 2004

I'm a window clerk at a post office in Indiana. Our supervisors and postmaster all back us up on the signature rule if the customer wants to talk them. I work in a college town where it's fairly easy to get a fake ID. I usually mention to the customer that thinks "see id" on the cars is safer that it's much easier to get a fake ID than to forge someone's unique signature on the reciept to match the signature on the card (assuming the real owner signed it). If the person agrees to sign the card, we are required to ask for two picture ID's. If the person is mailing anything, I also look at the return address to see if that name matches the card. I doubt that anyone who steals a card would also mail anything for them. When the line of customers is short, I've even asked the signature retentive person to try and forge my signature. It's comical. One especially obstinate guy actually stepped over to a table for a few minutes to try. When he came back he admitted he wasn't good at copying signatures. I told him that's why signatures are safer than ID's. The credit card companies also require the signature for terms agreement purposes, not just identification. If a clerk takes an unsigned card, the retailer can be "charged-back" for not following the proper acceptance procedure if the charges are disputed, even if the card owner does not report the stolen card.

NoOne

on Nov 01, 2004

http://usa.visa.com/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/card_present.html?it=search

Check the visa page for the offical fraud action to do when you have a "See ID"

" If the card has a “See ID” in place of a signature…

1. Request a signature. Ask the cardholder to sign the card and provide current government identification, such as a driver's license or passport (if local law permits).
2. Check the signature. Be sure that the signature on the card matches the one on the transaction receipt and the additional identification.

If the signatures appear reasonably the same and the authorization request is approved, go ahead and complete the transaction."

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