It's been about a month since American Express and Mastercard decided to stop requiring signatures for EMV chip credit cards. Now Visa is joining their ranks, making signatures optional for chipped transactions in North America.
"Visa is committed to delivering secure, fast and convenient payments at the point of sale," said VIsa's Dan Sanford in a statement. "Our focus is on continually evolving the market towards dynamic authentication methods such as EMV chip, as well as investing in emerging capabilities that leverage advanced analytics and biometrics. We believe making the signature requirement optional for EMV chip-enabled merchants is the responsible next step to enhance security and convenience at the point of sale."
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/12/visa-signatures-optional-credit-cards-emv/
(Score: 4, Informative) by bob_super on Monday January 15 2018, @06:00AM (17 children)
We've only been doing chip-and-pin for 30 years in Europe, usually on terminals that accept the transaction fast, then dial home later, without the card ever leaving your sight.
The official answer from the a\banks was that chip-and-pin was too "confusing" for the Americans (really). Which is either calling them dumb, or worrying that having to remember 25 pins might be a hindrance to getting more debt than you really should...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @10:37AM
Come to Germany. Signatures requires. Yes, Germany still part of Europe.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday January 15 2018, @11:10AM (3 children)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 4, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday January 15 2018, @12:02PM
Not quite 30 years, but we've had fish and cushion payments here in the UK for at least a decade, and it doesn't seem to have brought about the end times.[1]
[1] We have various other things we can blame our current mess on.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Wootery on Monday January 15 2018, @12:41PM
This seems to happen constantly with patents. Is this a market failure? Are the patent-holders just setting their price-point too high, or is it instead the hassle and uncertainty that stop adoption?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @03:24PM
I'm in Denmark, and while the chip is new-ish, we've been doing magstripe and pin ever since the first credit card was introduced more than 30 years ago.
But Germany... I'm not surprised, it's actually rare to be able to pay with credit card in Germany, even when ordering online.
(Score: 4, Informative) by aclarke on Monday January 15 2018, @01:36PM (2 children)
Not "the Americas". We've used chip and PIN in Canada for a long time. I can't remember the last time I was asked to sign a credit card purchase. Going to the US and using my credit card makes me feel like I'm going a couple decades back in time.
The statements attached to this article from the credit card confuse me for this reason. Maybe they're not longer requiring signatures for chip purchases, but then again in Canada it's always chip+PIN. Plus of course contactless for amounts $100 which require neither a PIN nor a signature.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by aclarke on Monday January 15 2018, @01:39PM (1 child)
Oops, I read "too confusing for the Americans" as "too confusing for the Americas". I also think that Americans are very suspicious of and resistant to any sort of change, which leaves them stuck with antiquated ideas like magnetic stripe credit cards, health insurance for basic needs, dollar bills, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @12:17AM
I'm guessing your thought process went like this:
1. Read the phrase "Too confusing for Americans"
2. Hey Canada is in America!!
3. Eh
4. Must take jab at poster for not properly referring to people in the "USA" as "USians" or "the US population".
5. Hit Submit
6. Wait a sec, I'm Canadian? Did I just logically imply I'm an American?
7. Holy shit! I wear clothing embossed with giant maple leafs when I travel overseas, and damned anyone that refers to me as "American" instead of Canadian.
8. To save face I must mentally redefine "America" as "A subset of the Americas, and not in and of itself all of North and South America"
9. Submit correction post attributed to confusion between "America" and "The Americas"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday January 15 2018, @05:01PM (8 children)
1. Having multiple credit cards and using them frequently doesn't mean that you actually have any debt. Just keep all those cards paid down to zero. Never use the card unless you were prepared to write a check for it as soon as you get home and pay off the card online. Get all of the huge rewards of using CC's but never get into debt. If you are going to purchase something expensive, then save up for it, like sensible people do. Then buy it on a CC and pay off the CC that same day.
2. Don't flinch at calling Americans dumb. Look who we have as president. I'm sure that remembering more than one pin is simply too confusing for most non geeks watching reality tv trailer park shows. (true, even if inciteful or informative) Please be careful about inviting the orange jackass to visit europe.
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(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday January 15 2018, @05:08PM (3 children)
I'm not sure your 1. is compatible with your 2., which is kind of the point for credit card companies. :)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 15 2018, @05:37PM (2 children)
I have done the 1 for years. But I didn't vote for the 2. So maybe they are mutually exclusive.
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(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday January 15 2018, @05:54PM (1 child)
There's a billions-of-dollar industry based on 2.
We the members of the 1. club are a minority.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 15 2018, @09:47PM
You must be disciplined to treat a CC as if it were a debit card. Sadly, that probably is a minority.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday January 15 2018, @05:40PM (3 children)
3. Clown who has never heard of a debit card presumes to lecture others on how to run their country.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 15 2018, @05:44PM (2 children)
Debit cards don't pay you for using them. Airline points. Disney dollars. Amazon dollars. Cruise ship dollars.
But be sure you use a CC as if it were a debit card.
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(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Monday January 15 2018, @08:29PM (1 child)
They also don't have the consumer protections that a credit card does. Woe to thee whose debit card number is stolen and on which big charges are piled up.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 15 2018, @09:45PM
I would also point out that Credit Cards have a dispute process for dealing with bad merchants or bad products. We've never had to use this, but it's nice to know it is there. The reason for this is that the CC companies DON'T WANT bad merchants in their payment network. Sometimes CCs also offer other protections.
I once used Debit Cards what seems like a lifetime ago when I was young and didn't know better. But CCs are the way to go -- as long as you NEVER borrow money with them. If you don't have the discipline to do this, then stick with debit cards. That's probably why they exist.
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