Saturday, August 30, 2008

A Lot Of Credit Card Owners Have Adopted A New Attitude Nowadays

Category: Finance.

A lot of credit card owners have adopted a new attitude nowadays. Some of them totally ignore the signature line, others put" see ID" there.



Trying to lessen the risk of becoming vulnerable to credit card fraud, they choose not to sign their credit cards. The reason why they do this is that in this way they deprive criminals of the sample of their signature, which makes them unable to use a card or falsify the signature. Let` s think it over. Therefore, there is a question- do we really have to sign it or not? If you do sign it, it would not be a problem for someone to take possession of your credit card and employ it for their needs. However, if they buy things in a shop, they can effortlessly falsify your signature on the receipt using yours as a sample.


Actually, if they buy things online or by phone, they do not need your signature at all. Furthermore, if you put your signature on the credit card, it is also possible that that criminals use your signature to obtain more credit. It means that the shop- assistant will ask to see your ID, so that he can check if your signature in ID is the same as on the charge receipt. If you do not sign your credit card, putting" see ID" on its back can be a nice option. Another option is to leave the signature line empty which may also cause them to ask for your ID. There is no solid view on this problem- many users argue you should never sign your credit card, so that the store clerks have to ask for your personal documents. So, what to do?


However, one must take into account the fact that many shop- assistants do not ask for your ID at all. So, are you really protected? Of course, they are supposed to, but it is far from being a common practice. The credit card companies recommend their clients to sign their credit card in any case. They are also authorized to deny you the buy if you offer a credit card without signature. Actually, they state that shop- assistants are not allowed to accept credit cards without signature and are supposed to ask you to sign the card in their presence.


However, how often do they really look at your signature? Maybe the best thing to do is just to be very careful. If they do not check it, then you are not safe, no matter if you sign it or not. Sign your card to be on the safe side and do your best not to let it be stolen.

No comments: