If I had a dollar for every one of my friends or family members who refused to sign their credit cards, I’d be a rich woman. When you receive a new credit card from the bank, you are explicitly instructed to sign your name on the back. Many people opt not to do so, however, and instead demand that the merchant swiping the card see their identification instead to verify who’s using it. Worse, some simply leave the back of the card blank (!!). It’s a decision that every credit cardholder must face. You receive your new plastic in the mail, and you are faced with a dilemma. There is an area for your signature on the back, and the prompt from the issuer to sign it. Do you follow orders? The time-honored procedure is this: at the time of a purchase, your signature on the charge slip will be compared with the one on the back of your card as a means of checking your identity, and making sure that you are in fact allowed and entitled to use that account. When it comes down to how things work out in real-world situations, however, the tremendous majority of cashiers never check the back of a card after running it through the register. As an additional point, the genesis of self-service card readers at gas station pumps and mass merchandisers, as well as internet shopping, means that it is, in theory, easier than ever for scammers to do what they do. In the past few years, Visa (the biggest card issuer in the country) has passed changes to its rules stating that merchants need not require a signature on the smaller transactions that make up the majority of credit card volume. This has created a whole new wrinkle in the debate over signing credit cards.
It’s true that today’s credit cards bear more security measures than ever before, including zero-liability policies in case of fraud and/or theft. This begs the question: does it matter if you sign your card at all? And how about the trend of writing “check ID” (variations include “see ID” and “CID”), to supposedly ensure that more attention is paid to your security? In theory, a lost or stolen card with see ID should be impossible to use, right? Hate to tell you, but that’s not entirely the case. For the first point, writing see ID on your card does not make the cashiers of the world any more likely to flip your card over and check the signature line at the point of sale. Cashiers are not known for their extreme diligence in the best of situations. Additionally, advances in computer fraud make it easy for thieves to manufacture horrifyingly real-looking fake IDs sporting your name, with their picture. With this handy-dandy form of fraud in hand, typical credit card security features become a joke. So what should a smart consumer do? What, exactly, is the right decision?
Bank of American and certain other innovators in the field of credit card design and issuing have begun embedding a picture of the card holder on the front of the card as an added security feature. Choosing a card with this additional aspect of security may be a good idea if you are wary about the idea of using a credit card online or over the phone. And it is true that most card companies will not hold you liable for more than a minor fee if your card is fraudulently used, and many will hold you fully exempt from any liability. That is, of course, if you have done your part as the credit cardholder to ensure the security of your transactions. Part of the credit card agreement you sign is a pledge to sign your signature clearly on the back of the card when you receive it. You’ll notice that a message warns that the card is not valid unless signed, and that is technically true when push comes to shove. If you have “see ID” or one of its equivalents on the back of your card in lieu of a valid signature, you risk having your claim denied in the unfortunate case that your card and/or identity was stolen and used fraudulently. The lesson: sign your card. If you absolutely feel that you must include that “CID,” go ahead and add it along with actual signature. In a world where no form of commerce is ever truly safe, this is probably as good as it gets.
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