How common a practice is it to ask for ID for credit card purchases?

[Locut0s]

I'm curious how common a practise do you find asking for ID for credit card purchases? At our store we ID all purchases over $50 on credit cards. We would probably ID even smaller purchases but the huge volume of transactions we do makes that impractical, we're a convince store. I've seen signs at some stores letting customers know that they may be asked for their ID for credit card purchases but am unaware how widespread the practice is. Most customers oblige willingly some don't seem to have ever heard of the idea.

[ForrestGump]

1. I've found it's exceedingly rare everywhere in the US (that I've lived or been) other than inside

Las Vegas casinos. Probably other casinos, too, I'm guessing.

I wish more places asked for it, actually.

[Locut0s]

3. Well I'm in Canada, maybe it's a bit more common here? But you are right...

Most places still don't ask, not matter the amount. I was at an electronics store the other day and put over 140 bucks on my card and asked the clerk if he would like to see my ID for verification. The guy seemed to like the offer and took a quick glance but I could see he didn't do it as a rule. Seems crazy to me to put such large purchases through without asking for confirmation.

[Kiouni]

2. Why don't they check what you sign?

If you haven't read this you need too! It's hilarious.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit/

[Locut0s]

4. That's why it's becomming more common to ID. Much easier to spot a problem and...

harder to fake. It's one thing to fake a card and pass of a bad signature. It takes a lot more to also craft a passable ID as well.

[pokerfan]

5. About as common as a Two Dollar Bill

I always thank the clerk for asking for ID.

And speaking of Two Dollar Bills:
http://www.snopes.com/business/money/tacobell.asp

[Kiouni]

6. funny link.

taco hell sucks regardless of their cashiering abilities.

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Hahahaha, that is gold.

[sbj405]

8. My card says "See id" on the back and I'd say it's about 10%

And about 90% of those just look at the id and never at my face.

Having been a victim of credit card fraud (actually we all are in that we pay for it in higher prices, fees, etc.), I thank them when they do ask.

[brook]

9. I have that on mine too...

and sad to say, the clerks rarely ask.

[SacredCow]

11. I'd agree with that number....

I rarely use anything but a credit or debit card, and it's seldom that I get asked for identification. It doesn't bother me when they do, but I know people who get bent out of shape about it.

[mzteris]

10. When I was living in NC

the odds of my being asked for ID with credit card purchase was much greater when I was shopping with my son than when I was shopping without.

I kid you not.

I actually did some "test" shopping at the same stores - just to see if what I THOUGHT I was observing was really true.

Sad to say, it was.

"Why did it make a difference if your son was with you?" you may well ask.

My son is adopted African American.


Racism. Alive, well, and ugly in America.


(I'm happy to report this isn't true in Wisconsin.)

[LynneSin]

12. If the back of your card isn't signed - then very common

I know there are people who swear they won't sign the back of their card for fear of someone stealing the card and forging their signature. However what would be much easier is if an unsigned card is stolen and the theft puts the signature in his own handwriting.

[flamingyouth]

13. I have "please see ID" written on the back of my card (w/my signature)

I'd say I get asked about 75% of the time.

Frankly, I'm glad when people ask me and I think it's a good thing when stores do it.

[liberal hypnotist]

14. I have a question?

How many people spend over $50 in a convenience store. Lotsa nutritious cigarettes?

[Kali]

15. that is a tank of gas for me

add a paper and a soda, much less some beer or something, no problem to go over 50.

[pitohui]

18. buying gas but you buy gas at the pump these days

you certainly should not be handing over all your identifying info to a convenience store/gas station clerk but some people never learn until the clerk happily uses the information to charge their own gas and purchases

it happened to us back in the day, lesson learned

there is no reason any convenience store clerk needs to see id if i am not buying alcohol/cigarettes/lottery tix

sure most clerks are honest but it only takes one who is a crackhead to spoil your whole year

[Kali]

16. I do most business in a small town so everybody really does know me

but there is one store that asks every time. And I would say maybe 1 out of ten or twenty in the big city ask.

[pitohui]

17. it is not supposed to be done in the usa

a person who has both your cc and your driver's license has all they need to steal your identity and not all clerks in all stores are 100 percent honest so we are told by the cc companies not to show id

our signature is supposed to be enough

showing extra id only facilitates identity theft and should not be done

there are other stores -- the vast majority of them -- where the question is never asked

the customers who oblige willingly will have their info stolen sooner or later but better to be thought a nice guy by some clerk you'll never see again than to protect your private information

i'm endlessly amazed at how little usa citizens value their privacy or their identities until it is too late

the people who won't sign their card and put "please see id" on the card have fallen for a very old, tired myth but i guess they will just have to learn the hard way if they have not learned by now, cc companies have spent years and who knows how much money to tell people to sign their damn cards!!!

if you want a photo id, get a credit card such as citibank that includes photo id, don't hand over card and license and all, that is just plain stupid and will eventually catch up to you

[AlCzervik]

19. on mine it's always, instead of signing my cc i write in sharpie "Check ID"

[puerco-bellies]

20. I always check ID's and last four numbers on card against the "reader".

The only comments I get are "thanks" and I minimize the chances of a charge-back. A win-win in my book.

[KitchenWitch]

21. It is fairly common practice here in SoCal

for which I am very grateful.

[Rosemary2205]

22. Publix is the only one routinely checking here.

in my neck of the woods (southside Atlanta) the only retailer that routinely checks ID on every card purchase is Publix. Everyplace I can swipe and go most of the time. Target sometimes asks if the purchase if over $100.

[ElboRuum]

23. Rare as all get out.

I've never been asked for ID. And although the cashier, at minimum, is supposed to compare the signature on the back of the card with that on the receipt, since the advent of "do-it-yourself" POS swipes, they rarely do this either. Although most of the displays tell you to hand the card to the cashier, the cashiers never insist.

[Left Is Write]

24. Very common, and it goes against the policies of both Mastercard and Visa.

If someone refuses to show ID on a Mastercard or Visa transaction, is it a violation of the merchant contract to deny the sale.

The reason? The credit card IS a form of ID.

[LynneSin]

25. But they have the right to ask if there is no signature on the card

That signature on the back is proof that you are the owner of the card

[Left Is Write]

27. Yes, that's an exception - unsigned cards are not supposed to be accepted.

The procedure then is to ask the customer to sign the card and provide another form of ID to compare the signature. They are NOT supposed to simply ask for an ID and allow the customer to leave the card unsigned. I've seen merchants do it all the time, but that is not the procedure they are supposed to follow.


"Unsigned card
A seemingly valid Visa card that has not been duly signed by the legitimate cardholder. Merchants cannot accept an unsigned card until the cardholder has signed it, and the signature has been checked against valid government identification, such as a driver's license or passport."

http://merchants.visa.com/accepting/glossary.jsp


Also see here:

http://tinyurl.com/yyt7dh

[TankLV]

29. Bullshit! I NEVER sign my card - I put "see photo ID" on it.

There was a BIG article in the newspapers about 10 years ago to NEVER SIGN A CARD and put "see photo ID" on it.

That way if it's stolen, they can't practice your signature too.

I've never been refused service - ever...

[Left Is Write]

31. It's not bullshit. Merchants may accept your card this way....

but it IS a violation of their contract with Visa/MC to do so. Did you read the links I provided?

[RoyGBiv]

32. Little harsh, don't ya think?

Left is right. :-)

Seriously, the policy provided in the message to which you responded is the actual policy. (Read it. It's fairly obvious.) The problem is that merchants don't actually follow the policy, in part because they want to make transactions flow quickly and easily.

This "See ID" thing as a form of protection is a myth. An unsigned card is an invalid card, but stores will still accept it and some privately do instruct their cashiers to check ID but not force the customer to sign it in their presence, mostly because the "See ID" thing actually takes up the entire signature field and technically invalidates the card. That would then invalidate the sale, but in the vast majority of cases, the only people that would complain would be people like yourself who think that notation actually means anything, and they would have no recourse since they are asking the merchant to do something that is against its contract. So, the merchant plays the percentages, follows the path that actually results in a sale and accepts the transaction.

[RoyGBiv]

33. Delete

wrong place

[fortyfeetunder]

26. Typically they don't unless you request it.

After having a card maxed out -- at a hotel and a retail store -- without my credit card and ID, I've insisted in requesting credit cards get a look at my picture ID. Most of the time I found stores ignore my CID writing anyway.

Way to go for identity theft. I might go all cash at some point and just not do big purchases unless I have to.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

28. I was asked to show ID

for a debit card purchase at a antique/gift store a couple of weeks ago. Sign at front door advised that ID was required. Can't recall anywhere else asking.

[Generic Brad]

30. Many banks provide fraud protection for credit card purchases less than $50.00

I don't mind showing my ID for larger purchases. But when a store requires my home phone number or zip code before they ring me up, I get peeved.

[RoyGBiv]

34. Rare ...

Our company is fairly religious about its contractual policy with regard to the acceptance of credit/debit cards. We don't accept unsigned cards in person without ID, and those that have something written on the signature field other than an actual signature are not accepted in person. The exception is that we will accept these cards if the individual card number has been used in some other valid manner before and is thus already in our system. Customers can use those cards in automated, customer activated card readers, and use of a credit/debit card via an online payment system requires the CCV number, each of these methods accounting being considered those "valid other manners."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. I appreciate it when they do

In 1998, my wallet was pickpocketed, and it contained my credit cards and checkbook. Before I realized the wallet was missing, before I could report the theft, the thief had rushed to the nearest Office Depot and bought a $1500 computer on my debit card. (Fortunately, the bank reimbursed me. Months later, a ring of pickpockets who were all women in their forties and fifties was busted.)

But when I was standing in line in my local Fred Meyer store a week later, the woman in front of me objected to being asked for I.D. to purchase a $200 TV. I spoke up and told her of my experience.

The man behind the counter was astonished that any store would put anything over $100 on a debit card without asking for I.D.

This story has two morals:

1. Don't gripe when a store clerk asks to see your I.D. before putting a major purchase on a charge or debit card.

2. Do not keep your money, credit cards, and checkbooks in the same wallet. Since that experience, I have kept them all separate, which can be a hassle, but I figure that this way, no future pickpocket will get EVERYTHING from me at once.

[barb162]

36. I think I have never been asked to show ID

[noshenanigans]

37. Common

I run my debit card as a credit a lot of times because my bank gives me "bonus" points when I don't put in my PIN number. A lot of times they ask me for ID (8/10, probably) but I never begrudge them that because, well, I'm glad they do.

[necso]

38. Here in SoCal,

it's fairly common -- and it seems to be increasingly so.

However, I've noticed a correlation between how "presentable" I look (my beard comes in pretty-much completely white -- kinda scary looking (on me); and when my hair is long, it typically looks kinda scraggly -- double scary looking; and when my head is shaved -- scary-looking-squared) and how closely the id is checked (ie, checking not only the id against the credit card, but the id against me).

Size of purchase also seems to matter.

...

Lol, "s" isn't even close to "n/i" on the keyboard.

[Skittles]

39. I have noticed they are doing it more lately

I approve - yes