AmExpress says its ok to ask for ID

[john398]

Ok I know theres a debate weather a merchant can ask for ID or not so I complained to American Express and they replied:

Hi XXXX.Thx for tweeting.This is the merchants company policy.Pls understand we do not dictate policies to merchants.This

practice is in your best interest as it prevents fraud.In many cases,identity theft is prevented due to this practice.Enjoy

your meal. ^Beth

I complained about a local restaurant having hand written signs that its company policy to require ID on CC

[w003ptr]

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@john398 wrote:

Ok I know theres a debate weather a merchant can ask for ID or not so I complained to American Express and they replied:

Hi XXXX.Thx for tweeting.This is the merchants company policy.Pls understand we do not dictate policies to merchants.This

practice is in your best interest as it prevents fraud.In many cases,identity theft is prevented due to this practice.Enjoy

your meal. ^Beth

I complained about a local restaurant having hand written signs that its company policy to require ID on CC

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Why couldn't a merchant be able to ask for ID? 

[longtimelurker]

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@w003ptr wrote:

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@john398 wrote:

Ok I know theres a debate weather a merchant can ask for ID or not so I complained to American Express and they replied:

Hi XXXX.Thx for tweeting.This is the merchants company policy.Pls understand we do not dictate policies to merchants.This

practice is in your best interest as it prevents fraud.In many cases,identity theft is prevented due to this practice.Enjoy

your meal. ^Beth

I complained about a local restaurant having hand written signs that its company policy to require ID on CC

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Why couldn't a merchant be able to ask for ID? 

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Because there has been a belief that the Visa/MC acceptance rules at least forbid that more or less explicitly, unless the purchase type (alcohol etc) require proof of age.   The idea from the issuers viewpoint it to make using the card no more burdensome than using cash.

[longtimelurker]

From a recent article: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/can-retailers-ask-id-with-credit_card-1282.php

All the networks allow a merchant to ask for identification.

MasterCard and Visa, however, explicitly prohibit retailers from requiring an ID to accept a properly signed card. "They can ask for that ID, but you can refuse to show the ID and they still must accept the card," says Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit that advocates for consumer privacy rights.

On the other hand, Visa and MasterCard rules prohibit the acceptance of unsigned cards. If you present one, the merchant must ask you to sign the card and supply an ID. Visa guidelines specify that it must be an official government ID.

Discover's policies are more intrusive. They state that a store employee who has doubts about the validity of a card should "request and review additional identification" from the customer. And for an unsigned card, the company requires two pieces of identification, including one government-issued photo ID.

American Express is more vague. It requires merchants to "verify that the customer is the card member," but its rules make no direct mention of requiring an ID.

"American Express doesn't really have a policy on it," says Linda Sherry, director of national priorities for Consumer Action. "If the merchant wants to ask for an ID, that's fine."

[mxp114]

Afaik American Express and Discover do not preclude merchants asking for ID as a condition of the sale whereas Visa and MasterCard do. However AmEx requires all accepted payment cards be treated equally and since Visa/MC disallow making ID a condition of the sale, a merchant that accepts all three or four cannot condition ID. Visa and MasterCard allow asking but do not allow a merchant to refuse the transaction when a valid signed card is properly presented for payment.

[w003ptr]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@w003ptr wrote:

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@john398 wrote:

Ok I know theres a debate weather a merchant can ask for ID or not so I complained to American Express and they replied:

Hi XXXX.Thx for tweeting.This is the merchants company policy.Pls understand we do not dictate policies to merchants.This

practice is in your best interest as it prevents fraud.In many cases,identity theft is prevented due to this practice.Enjoy

your meal. ^Beth

I complained about a local restaurant having hand written signs that its company policy to require ID on CC

---

Why couldn't a merchant be able to ask for ID? 

---

Because there has been a belief that the Visa/MC acceptance rules at least forbid that more or less explicitly, unless the purchase type (alcohol etc) require proof of age.   The idea from the issuers viewpoint it to make using the card no more burdensome than using cash.

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There's a difference between asking for ID and denying a sale if the consumer refuses to show ID.  Also, MC requires that merchants ask for ID and make the consumer sign the card (if it is unsigned) before payment can be accepted, but nobody seems to care that 99% of merchants violate that rule too.

Edit:  You beat me to it haha.

[john398]

thanks lurker  very good article

[enharu]

most merchants are guilty of not following these rules, but there's really nothing much that can be done about it either.

Try buying a 5k TV at best buy and refuse to provide any form of ID for example....

[longtimelurker]

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@enharu wrote:

most merchants are guilty of not following these rules, but there's really nothing much that can be done about it either.

Try buying a 5k TV at best buy and refuse to provide any form of ID for example....

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And CVS will scan your driver's license (or presumably other state id) when you buy $1000 or more of VR or GC.   This is to implement their limit of not more than $5K per day across all CVS.  Haven't seen complaints that this is not allowed by credit card rules, presumably because people are just happy to find a CVS with them in stock and payable by credit card! 

[grinlikechelsea]

I work in a pharmacy, so I check IDs before the customer even pays because we have to verify that they are the patient who is picking up the meds, enter them into the pseudoepherine database, or if the meds are controlled (schedule ll/lll). But in terms of checking ID for payment, exactly what is the ramification for a company breaking the merchant agreement? I don't recall my employer ever briefing us about a specific guideline to follow; it was always left up to us if a card was presented and they didn't swipe it on the terminal (for example, the card had to be manually entered).