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Credit card signatures: Useless?
SpaceAdmiral writes "Everyone should remember John Hargrave's classic Credit Card Prank on Zug. He tried signing fake names on his credit card receipt, and no one seemed to care.
But that's nothing compared to The Credit Card Prank, Part 2. Can he draw obscene pictures instead of signing his credit card? Yes, it turns out. Is there any way of getting your signature checked? . . . Yes, it turns out. But you have to do an awful lot."
Most businesses don't charge the ATM fees (and usually request the bank doesn't either) because it doesn't cost them anything to process as opposed to credit cards which usually require a fee on their end for processing. You'll find that most places that accept debt/credit cards assume you are going to use the debt proceedure and try to steer you in that direction no matter what type of card you swipe.
and if you travle over seas your screwed, see id seems to be an american only thing, also those credit cards with pictures that ppl try to get away with out signing? also useless overseas, we all check the sig. IVe had ppl argue till there blue in teh face "but you saw my ID" or "cant yous ee i lok the same as the F* pictuer" but the fact is, most of us still require proff we can mail into the credit card company when you say "shit my card was stolen, i dont recall shoping at XYZ" and me saying 'well the picture on the card matched the dudes face' meens said tracnfer will be refunded and ill be left paying for it.
You have 5 Moderator Points!
Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
But, when I submitted the SAME story to /. a month ago it just got rejected.
Who's balls do you have to suck around here to get an article published!
DAMN YOU OCTODOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
It's not a problem, it's made to do that on purpose. Many other POS systems are similar and require cashier intervention and sometimes a manager to run a debit card through as a credit card.
The reason? Simple. Debit card purchases cost the store less money than credit card purchases -- and if a debit card purchase is run through as credidt, the store will pay the same fees they pay on credit cards (usually a percentage of the gross sale price.) Stores are also allowed to pass foreign ATM fees to the card holder to cover their costs (or profit) also, though few do unless you opt for "cash back" in addition to your purchase. This is also incentive for them to force a card to run as a debit.