Driver's License to be the Next Debit Card

prostoalex writes "Your US driver's license has a magnetic stripe with unique ID in it, and your debit card carries a magnetic stripe with account information on it, so why not link the two together and allow people to use their driver's licenses as debit cards? That's precisely what a young company National Payment Card is doing in select locations, according to Business Week: 'Gas-station owners are pleased with the program too. Because NPC processes the payment as an e-check with the Automated Clearing House (ACH), a network most commonly used for direct deposits, participating retailers bypass credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard.'"

Comments

Re:Sounds Neat

[smbarbour]

It's better for the merchant not to ask for ID since Visa forbids merchants from making identification a condition of acceptance

When should you ask a cardholder for an official government ID? Although Visa
rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID, merchants
cannot make an ID a condition of acceptance. Therefore, merchants cannot
refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to
provide ID. Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of their regular
card acceptance procedures. Laws in several states also make it illegal for
merchants to write a cardholder's personal information, such as an address or
phone number, on a sales receipt.

-Pg 29, Rules for Visa Merchants--Card Acceptance and Chargeback Management Guidelines Even if the cardholder refuses to show ID, the card must still be accepted or else the merchant is in violation of their agreement and therefore subject to termination and blacklisting.

Re:It happened to me.

[flyingfsck]

The machine asks for some info ahead of time, while it tries to make a network connection and do the validation. This gives you the illusion of speed and interactivity. So after a while, when it finally figures out that it is a dud card, it pops the card back out and forgets whatever you selected.

Re:US Driver's license???

[KD7JZ]

As a proud citizen of Montana, I am pleased to report that our state told the federal government to "shove it". In the words of our governor, "Never, no, hell no".

Re:So when your license is suspended...

[MaelstromX]

I'm glad to see at least one other person actually realizes what's going on. The government has nothing to do with this combination license/credit card other than the fact that they provide the piece of plastic it uses. Other than their already existing civilian surveillance methods they will have no knowledge of the purchases you make.

File a complaint if they demand ID!

[Mr2001]

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm so sick of being asked for ID when I use my credit card. BTW, here's a PDF of the merchant rules - page 29 also mentions the "See ID" nonsense.

Remember: if you try to buy something with your Visa, but they won't let you because you won't show your ID, you can file a complaint against the merchant by calling (800) VISA-911. So far I've never had to make the call, just had to threaten it.