Credit card security measures?

LEDcandle

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Aug 15, 2005
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Mushroom S'pore
My friend is in the States at the moment and was not able to pay with CC for her purchases at some stores without some other ID (passport etc..) which of course she didn't bring out. (Maybe credit card advertising on how it's the only thing you need to bring out influenced her? :D )

So she was not able to get her item and another item for a friend and has to fly off soon after. Fortunately, she is returning to the States in about a week and can make the purchase again.

Recently, another friend experienced a failed online transaction as the seller deemed Singaporean credit cards to be highly fraudulent, causing a big ruckus even after the payment was made and eventually it was refunded and he lost US$60 on the buy/sell exchange rate.

Online fraud is one thing; it's hard to stop. The reverse charging thing protects buyers who really lose their cards and has someone chalk up a big bill on their account. But its really bad for sellers.

But come to think of it, the security measures for physical use CCs are quite ridiculous. You actually sign your name there which is supposed to be the 'security measure', but actually gives anyone who picks it up the opportunity to learn your signature.. (It's *almost* like being told to write your pin on your card.)

Not to mention no one really looks at that anyway. Why isn't photo ID on all credit cards a must? I would think that's the simplest way to at least prevent physical CC fraud.

If CC security measures are so good, why aren't our passports just signature based? :D

Sorry for the ranting. Either I'm missing something or CC security measures are just outright outdated and dumb.
 

Billson

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Nov 18, 2003
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FWIW, I've had some dumbass cashier ask for an ID even when I used my credit card with a photo ID. Go figure.
 

Mike Painter

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Sep 16, 2002
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1,863
Billson said:
FWIW, I've had some dumbass cashier ask for an ID even when I used my credit card with a photo ID. Go figure.

It might not be the cashier. Some stores have policy which mandates it and it's easier to **** off a customer then get the boss pissed at you.
I remember one place where they wrote something that was already printed on my check. When I mentioned it the clerk let me know it was "because"
as in "because I said so" which we all remember from childhood.

When I got my ham ticket a few years back I was required to have two forms of photo ID. There was a short line and I noticed the guy filling out forms didn't look at the person, just the ID. He didn't look at me either.
It also took longer to get the test corrected than it did to take it.
Maybe it was my youth that made me so impatient. I was clearly the youngest person there by a fair margin....


And I was 61 at the time.
 
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