AmExpress says its ok to ask for ID

[blondy250]

That's one of the reasons I like me Citi. TYP, it's got my photo and signature on the front.

[mxp114]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

I.e. Having an untrained clerk check the id does very little.  Neither does checking the signature of course.

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Of course comparing signatures for a reasonable match is a lot easier than attempting to authenticate the validity of an ID. Besides suppressing card usage, it also adds unnecessary time to the transaction. If merchants suspect fraud, call to make a code 10 authorization request. Fortunately it is an extremely rare situation that only small businesses seem to implement.

[john398]

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@notfancy wrote:

OP- very sorry for the unrelated, off topic posts to your thread

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no reason to be sorry, I am glad to read all of it

[Open123]

While not accepting a card based solely a person not agreeing to provide ID is prohibited by the Visa/MC merchant agreement, American Express has no "clear" stance on the issue, except that AmEx cardmembers must be treated in the same manner as those using other cards.  In other words, if the store's policy is to check IDs for everyone, then it's acceptable to check IDs of those using Amex cards.

However, unless a Merchant doesn't accept Visa/MC, they can't refuse to accept an Amex soely on a person not providing ID, since the policy must be uniform.  Of course, if the Merchant doens't accept Visa/MC, then they are free to refuse an Amex purchase if one refuses to show ID, which isn't prohibited in the Amex Merchant agreement.