Is a signature ever checked?

As most of you are aware when the changeover was made to the new EMV cards in 2015 the United States did not go all the way. Rather than upgrading our nation’s credit cards to Chip-and-PIN we went half way and upgraded to Chip-and-Signature. For folks who are old enough to have used or accepted credit cards before the switch signing a receipt or a screen is nothing new so nothing has changed.

On a recent trip I took I decided to stop at several local breweries and purchase some of their wares. When asked to sign the e-signature screen my signature (signed with my finger) never came close to looking like it does on my driver’s license or even on the back of my card and yet the transaction was approved. Doesn’t my issuer check? I would hope that I certainly am not alone in wondering this. If this were the good ol’ days a vigilant merchant would have compared the signatures and would not have allowed the purchase or at least made me re-sign it. So what gives? Does your signature really matter?

The simple answer is no it does not. We could get into a long diatribe about how much more secure a PIN is rather than a signature but that is a topic for another day. The reason that the signature is still required is two-fold. First it represented the smoothest transaction and hence the path of least resistance to help the American consumer with the transition to EMV cards. Second the banks, which issue the cards, refuse to give up the signature requirement. The reason they still require it is not to combat credit card fraud directly but it does allow them to check it when compared to other versions of the customer’s signature on file should the customer dispute a charge.

Simply put a person’s signature is not secure. It is easy for a criminal to forge a signature or even just make it look close enough. After all a merchant is not going to go full-CSI to examine it or call in an expert. Should the card be cloned there is also nothing to prevent someone from simply signing the back with their own version of the signature.

The signature requirement had already been eliminated in purchases under $25 in 2003. Merchants would not be liable for chargebacks (albeit offset by paying a higher interchange rate) and were able to speed up the time it took to complete each transaction. The signature is also not required when a PIN is entered. It is hopefully only a matter of time until that is standard across the board but that is up to our legislators to accomplish.