General Question

robmandu's avatar

Do you sign the back of your credit/debit card?

Asked by robmandu (21331points) July 10th, 2008

I don’t. Supposedly that means the clerk should request photo id… but 99% of the time, no one says anything at all.

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10 Answers

Allie's avatar

No, mine say “See ID”. They usually don’t ask me at all either, so when someone does I make sure I say something like “Thanks for asking for ID” so they know and will maybe do it for other customers, too.

rockstar's avatar

I don’t either, and 99.9% I am not asked for id. Most of the time they don’t even look at the back of the card.

ccatron's avatar

yeah, they advertise debit cards in commercials saying that you should get one so that you don’t have to carry around ID when you use it. this would mean that you would have to sign it, which doesn’t make any sense to me at all. of course, this is in a world where they look closely at the back of the card.

I’m like Allie, I thank them when they do check it. unfortunately, most probably only do it because they have to and they probably don’t even check it that closely. my name is actually different on my card than on my driver’s license. I’m not sure why I did it this way, but whatever. my first name on my license is Charles, and on my debit card it is Chris, which is my middle name (also the name I go by). so you’d think that they’d have a problem with this. no one has ever questioned it.

so to answer your question…no i don’t…..I probably should put CHECK ID on it, but it probably wouldn’t do any good. signing the card is just asking for someone to steal it and copy your signature.

jlm11f's avatar

Forget checking the back of the card, till now I haven’t had any cashier check my signature on the receipt itself. This has actually become a little game for me. I rarely sign receipts with my name anymore (except for restaurants). I have signed as “Madonna”, “Sydney Bristow” and other various names and no one has ever noticed. They didn’t even notice the sex change when I signed as “James Bond”. It’s silly, but it amuses me.

Truth is, teenagers being paid 6$/hr do not and will not care about your financial security.

And to answer the question, I haven’t signed the back of my credit card. Not yet anyway. I like Allie’s idea of saying “See ID”

flameboi's avatar

nope, actually my identity was stolen so now I’m the cash kind of person

AstroChuck's avatar

I always write “Please see I.D.” and sign it as well, since the card is not supposed to be valid without a signature.

marinelife's avatar

There really is not a concensus on this. I do not sign mine.

Lifehacker says this:
“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.”

Creditor Web adds this from the credit card companies:
“The credit card companies advise consumers to always sign their credit card. In fact, they say that store clerks are not authorized to accept credit cards that are not signed and if they aren’t signed, they are supposed to require you, the consumer, to sign the card in their presence before they finish the transaction. They also have the authority to deny you the purchase if you provide an unsigned credit card.”

Knotmyday's avatar

I also write “see ID.” Cashiers generally don’t notice, though. I went through a drive-through the other day, and they told me it wasn’t even necessary to sign a receipt. Seemed odd.

jonno's avatar

The Credit Card Prank
The Credit Card Prank Part II

I guess they don’t check the signature after all

ccatron's avatar

@knotmyday – signatures are actually only required after the cost reaches a certain level…like $25 or something. some places still ask for the signature and others do not.

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