Community Chat

[Mz iMac]

Old news.  I thought everyone knew about it by now.  It's been all over the news, newspapers, radio, etc.

No Signature Required

Say goodbye to putting pen to credit card receipts

by Austin O'Connor, AARP, April 10, 2018

New technologies that make purchases safer and more secure have made the act of signing credit card receipts increasingly obsolete.

As of this weekend, you’ll be able to add “signing credit card receipts” to the list of former everyday tasks made obsolete by technology.

Effective April 14, major credit card companies, including American Express, MasterCard and Discover, are dropping the requirement that customers sign their receipts for credit and debit sales. Visa is dropping it too, but only at stores that are equipped to handle the more advanced EMV chip-embedded cards.

In truth, the requirement has been slowly disappearing for quite some time, with most cards recently only requiring your John Hancock for purchases of $50 or more. Now, the amount cut-off will be lifted, meaning shoppers can probably expect to move through checkout lines just a bit more quickly.

Originally, merchants and card companies required signatures on credit card receipts in order to help negotiate and refute contested sales. Now, with advancements in fraud protection technology, the signature is considered superfluous. The increasing ubiquity of encrypted EMV chips on credit and debit cards has beefed up security, as have new, more advanced protection protocols at credit card companies and payment networks.

“Our fraud capabilities have advanced so that signatures are no longer necessary to fight fraud," Molly Faust, American Express' vice president of public affairs for global merchant and network services, recently told USA Today.

The dropping of the signature requirement should make things quicker for customers and merchants alike. According to a 2017 Consumer Payment Study survey, nearly half of all shoppers — 44 percent — prefer to pay for purchases using a debit card. Fewer (33 percent) opt for credits cards, and only 12 percent of shoppers prefer to use cash.

It’s expected that some businesses, including restaurants, will continue to ask for a signature, if only to remind the diner that a gratuity for service can be added.

The cessation of required signatures will make for a “more consistent” shopping experience, said a Mastercard spokesperson, and it’s not the last change consumers will notice in the checkout process.  Soon, with the advancement of already-available contactless payment options such as Apple Pay and Samsung and advancing tech like biomarkers, including facial and fingerprint recognition, the physical credit card may not even be necessary.

ARTICLE LINK

[Danky]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Danky  My bank charges $3.95 to $6 for a transaction when I use my debit card anywhere OTHER than my banks' ATM.  I've only used 4 different banks and all do that.

Often, the vendor charges a fee as well. My husband, until he stopped, would rack up fees of more than a hundred a month using his card as a debit card. He was clueless/didn't think about it until I lost it one day after adding up months of fees and showing him the WASTE.

I'm starting to wonder if this is a state thing.....

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Thanks @SahmIam and maybe it is. If I go to a bank,that is not mine, to use

the ATM to get cash, I am charged by the competing bank usually around $3-$5. My bank charges nothing and I can also get cash, without a fee, by adding the amount I want to my purchase at most any store.

[Sadiesadie]

@SahmIam, @Danky: Ah, so the fee is when using ATM'S other than your own bank?? That clears it up if that’s the case. I've never used an ATM other than my own bank's. 

I do know there is a fee for using another's.

I thought people were referring to using them when doing general shopping.

I was so confused

[Cakers3]

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@Sadiesadie wrote:

@SahmIam, @Danky: Ah, so the fee is when using ATM'S other than your own bank?? That clears it up if that’s the case. I've never used an ATM other than my own bank's. 

I do know there is a fee for using another's.

I thought people were referring to using them when doing general shopping.

I was so confused

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@SahmIam  But using the debit card as a debit card used to cost, in our neck of the woods, 50 cents per transaction to pay for groceries, e.g.

Yes, ATM's were always a fee if not the bank's ATM.

But using your card as a debit to shop did incur fees at one time, at least with our bank.  That' is why we always made sure to press the "credit" button. 

Now with the "chip" card it's just insert, wait for the beep, remove, and done.

[Danky]

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@Sadiesadie wrote:

@SahmIam, @Danky: Ah, so the fee is when using ATM'S other than your own bank?? That clears it up if that’s the case. I've never used an ATM other than my own bank's. 

I do know there is a fee for using another's.

I thought people were referring to using them when doing general shopping.

I was so confused

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@Sadiesadie------I think I am STILL confused ! LOL....I, like you, only use my own ATMs or get cash back at the supermarket ......I have NEVER paid a fee ......I have a Lowe's and Home Depot card and every gasoline card known to mankind so that I can price shop.

[SahmIam]

@Trinity11  Forces me to ONLY spend if I have the cash. I use my actual CC ONLY if it's an emergency (airline tickets for 6 to the UK due to family members' death, for example).

Others have no issue with their spending, but I know myself....I prefer it that way. : )

@Mz iMac Hadn't heard about it and apparently, others haven't as well.

@Sadiesadie  In MY situation, the fees can come from ANY vendor but DEFINITELY ATM's that are not my banks'. No bank I've banked with allows you to use your debit card (PIN) without getting charged for it. Again, wondering if this is a state thing.

[SahmIam]

@Cakers3  You are correct. Same thing with  my card. The poster is saying it's ONLY ATM's and I wrote that no, for ME it is NOT it's ATM's AND vendors. Just like yours. : )

[Trinity11]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Trinity11  Forces me to ONLY spend if I have the cash. I use my actual CC ONLY if it's an emergency (airline tickets for 6 to the UK due to family members' death, for example).

Others have no issue with their spending, but I know myself....I prefer it that way. : )

@Mz iMac Hadn't heard about it and apparently, others haven't as well.

@Sadiesadie  In MY situation, the fees can come from ANY vendor but DEFINITELY ATM's that are not my banks'. No bank I've banked with allows you to use your debit card (PIN) without getting charged for it. Again, wondering if this is a state thing.

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Thank you @SahmIam. I took down my question when I realized it was probably too invasive. Thank you for answering.

[bikerbabe]

My credit union does not charge debit card fees.

[PINKdogWOOD]

@SahmIam  Hasn't happened to me yet. I'll be interested to see if it does. Like you I also use my card as credit but I'm also always needing to input my pin. I also ask checkout clerk if must enter it and they all say yes. There's never been discussion about it. So we'll wait & see.