topic Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card? in Credit Cards

Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

DI — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:13:24 GMT

I have a Cap 1 card with my picture plastered all over it. If my other 10 cards allowed me to upload a picture of myself to my card, I would do it for all. I think it's a good extra security.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:23:23 GMT

"Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?"

No, but my cat is famous

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

DI — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:29:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
"Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?"

No, but my cat is famous

Is this your little Morris or Sheba you have on a credit card?

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Watchmann — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:56:13 GMT

No pictures on any of my cards, nor do I want my mug on them (even though my wife and I are fab-u-lous). CC's are a tool, not an advertisement as to how cool we are. The picture security feature is a sideshow. It's just more narcissism, imo.

And I probably use my cards more for online shopping than in-person shopping, so no real prevention there by having a pic on it.

Message Edited by Watchmann on 11-28-2009 11:56 PM

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:44:45 GMT

I can see how it might be potentially helpful if your card were stolen.

But frankly, it's been so long since I've had anyone even compare my card signature to the one on the slip that I'm really doubtful that the gum-snapper behind the register pays much attention to anything at all.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Watchmann — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:01:08 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

But frankly, it's been so long since I've had anyone even compare my card signature to the one on the slip that I'm really doubtful that the gum-snapper behind the register pays much attention to anything at all.

+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:30:13 GMT

@Watchmann wrote:
+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.

"Check ID"/"See ID" actually is not acceptable for Visa and Mastercard.

You have invalidated the card.

Most government entities (USPS etc) will not accept said card for a transaction.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sign-or-write-see-ID-1282.php

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Watchmann — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:46:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Watchmann wrote:
+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.
"Check ID"/"See ID" actually is not acceptable for Visa and Mastercard.

You have invalidated the card.

Most government entities (USPS etc) will not accept said card for a transaction.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sign-or-write-see-ID-1282.php

The companies can confiscate my cards if they so wish, but they won't. If they denied use of all cards that were UNSIGNED there would be a big drop in acceptance. Many people don't even bother to sign them and merrily use them for their validity period.

I use my unsigned, but CHECK ID, Visa card a lot at the Post Office. They never check for a signature but they do have a peek at my ID.

I suspect the "Not Valid Unless Signed" on the back of most CC's (but not AMEX) holds very little legal protection for the CCC or the cardholder. After all, an account used exclusively online doesn't even have to have a physical card to be valid. What's important is the paperwork you received with the card that says by using the card you agree to all terms and conditions. A signature seems a throwback to old times when everything was done manually.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:48:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Watchmann wrote:
+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.
"Check ID"/"See ID" actually is not acceptable for Visa and Mastercard.

You have invalidated the card.

Most government entities (USPS etc) will not accept said card for a transaction.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sign-or-write-see-ID-1282.php

Merely requesting ID is a violation of a merchant's agreement with MC and Visa. I will not and have not presented ID when I have been asked to. No one has ever refused to process my charge.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:26:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

usmc58555 wrote::
@Watchmann wrote:
+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.
"Check ID"/"See ID" actually is not acceptable for Visa and Mastercard.

You have invalidated the card.

Most government entities (USPS etc) will not accept said card for a transaction.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sign-or-write-see-ID-1282.php

+1

Merely requesting ID is a violation of a merchant's agreement with MC and Visa. I will not and have not presented ID when I have been asked to. No one has ever refused to process my charge.

Apparently, USPS enforcement of the unsigned card/Check ID thing varies by location. My local Post Office will not accept any unsigned card, regardless of the patron's willingness to show ID. They even have a sign on the counter stating that unsigned cards will not be accepted. But I've read on other forums that unsigned cards at the USPS have not been a problem locally for those people posting about this.

I sign each of my cards, and refuse to show ID if asked for it. I've met the requirements of the issuer by signing the card, and that should be good enough for the merchant, as it is good enough for the company issuing the card. Any merchant wanting further proof of the card's validity outside of the signature on the card and the authorization number for the transaction is himself suspect, in my opinion. I'm not willing to provide further information for him/her to possibly misuse.

That being said, it appears that in some areas (Las Vegas, for instance) asking for further ID has become commonplace with or without a signature on the card, regardless of the rules for merchants. Rampant fraudulent usage of cards has led merchants to take things into their own hands, so to speak, but what good is does them is anybody's guess.

What I think is interesting is that a signature on a sales slip cannot be matched to what is on the card until the transaction has already been run through the terminal and approved. If the signature does not match at that point, what is the salesperson supposed to do then...snatch the goods from the customer, then wrestle him to the ground? I don't think that's going to happen, and it's probably the reason the kid behind the counter barely looks at a card anymore, if at all. The transaction either goes through or it doesn't.

Just for the heck of it, though...if you've got "Check ID" scrawled in the signature box on the back of your card, you should be scrawling "Check ID" on the signature line of the sales slip. You've made your "X" on the card...("Check ID" functions as your signature)...it matches your "X" on the slip...the usage is valid, no? Who's to say what my signature should actually consist of?

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

key2me12 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:33:26 GMT

I have my 2 dogs on my cap1 card.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:56:55 GMT

It's a slipperly slope for the merchant - damned if they do/damned if they don't. But they do have to play the game within the boundaries established by MC and Visa and they state no requesting of additional ID is allowed. There have been cases cited where clerks have memorized addresses from those ID's and been able to recite them back to customers. I, for one, don't need that.

As for USPS: I am in South Florida, the fraud capital of the U.S. The postal clerks swipe the cards here and you can expect a problem if you present an unsigned card.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:39:16 GMT

The only card of mine with my picture on it is my Amex TrueEarnings card. Saves having to carry my Costco membership card. Ninety percent of the transactions I make are done by swiping the card myself and I almost never have a clerk ask to see the card to verify anything.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

CHARGE_IT — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:09:09 GMT

Although this thread has been hijacked, I will still reply; I have one card that would otherwise see no action, so I have a photo of a little sports car of mine. I keep one in my stay at home wallet and one in the console. Jack (auto in question), uses it for gasoline and other incidentals related to his contentment. He seems to like the prestige that he is recognized at several service stations he frequents. (he prefers to refer to them as spas)

His signature?......he rolled across the back of the card, he has very distinctive tread marks.

@DI wrote:
I have a Cap 1 card with my picture plastered all over it. If my other 10 cards allowed me to upload a picture of myself to my card, I would do it for all. I think it's a good extra security.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Watchmann — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:29:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It's a slipperly slope for the merchant - damned if they do/damned if they don't. But they do have to play the game within the boundaries established by MC and Visa and they state no requesting of additional ID is allowed. There have been cases cited where clerks have memorized addresses from those ID's and been able to recite them back to customers. I, for one, don't need that.

As for USPS: I am in South Florida, the fraud capital of the U.S. The postal clerks swipe the cards here and you can expect a problem if you present an unsigned card.

My Post Office has swipe terminals on the counter and the cardholder swipes the card himself, the clerk never touches the card nor sees the back of it. I swipe it, put the card away, sign the PO copy, and they MAY ask to look at my ID just to check the name. I don't think this is much different than most Post Offices.

Many charge swipes these days are done by the cardholder; WalMart, Target, Costco, Lowes, Home Depot, etc, where the machines are right in front of the customer. A large part of this is done for security as the cardholder does not have to relenquish physical possession of the card. I remember years ago when the NY Transit Authority wanted to move to a storable charge system for fares instead of the single token system they had been using. The number one criteria for the new system was that the traveller would not give up physical possession of the fare ticket (card) at any time during the process. It was a security issue for New Yorkers, they don't like to give up possession of their goods, even a fare card.

MC and Visa say they won't allow any validation of an ID, but let's get real. If a jewelry merchant has someone come in to buy a $15,000 Rolex and pulls out a Visa card with an obviously ethnic name on it that does not match the appearance of the customer we are supposed to believe the merchant says, "No problem" and gives the watch to the customer as long as the scribble on the receipt matches the scribble on the back of the card? Get real, he'll be out of business in no time. Sure, he can refuse to accept the card, but that causes another set of problems as he is accused of profiling.

On Dec. 24th last year I bought a $20,000 item at a jeweler in St. Maarten and used my AMEX card. The jeweler had no reason to think the card was fraudulant and dutifully ran it. It came back with the message for them to call AMEX. They did, and were requested to positively confirm ID (passport or Drivers License). Why should I be offended at this? Why shouldn't AMEX be confident I am who I say I am? I'd rather have that action take place than for someone to steal my wallet and use a Visa card with a $25,000 CL and drain it because the merchant couldn't question the ID of the person using it. I suspect the prohibition of ID verification by Visa/MC is a relic of the past when CL's were pretty low (<$1,000), but now with many CL's reaching $20,000 and above it is out of date. I believe AMEX has far more experience in high purchase value transactions and the potential of fraud.

I work on the "Trust, but Verify" principle. Some common sense has to take over and not a blind following of rules.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:31:03 GMT

DI wrote:
I have a Cap 1 card with my picture plastered all over it. If my other 10 cards allowed me to upload a picture of myself to my card, I would do it for all. I think it's a good extra security.

There really hasn't been any TJ'ing here. The topic was adding "something" to your card for extra security. One thing I am not going to add to my card for "security" is my ID. My ID is none of the merchants business.

Just as a point of curiosity, how does driving over your CC add to its/your security?

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:48:27 GMT

Self swiping has been disabled in the post offices near me. You can see your transaction on the pad and sign on the pad but not swipe your own card. I guess that's the way USPS wants it down here. I suspect they want the clerks to at least touch the card being used so they can ascertain that it is signed and at least a decent clone. :smileyhappy: I try to stay outta there as much as possible - there's always a line.

As for merchants checking ID's: Publix used to try to do it and they no longer do. I suspect they got the word handed down to them from MC and Visa. The two places that have actually tried to pull it on me personally are CVS and Office Depot for purchases of less that $10. Both were refused and both took my card. Any merchant who will not follow the rules of the card umbrella organization (MC, Visa, Amex, Discover,...), whatever they are, is not worthy of my business. My personal security (always an issue in South Florida) is a lot more important to me than their pseudo-interest in whoever's security.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:51:58 GMT

@Watchmann wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Watchmann wrote:
+1 on that. I don't sign my cards, instead I write CHECK ID with a black Sharpie. Maybe 5% of the time a merchant will flip the card over to check the signature and ask to see my ID (Drivers License). Otherwise, no one even tries to verify a signature. And more and more transaction have you swipe the card yourself, another opportunity lost for positive verification.
"Check ID"/"See ID" actually is not acceptable for Visa and Mastercard.

You have invalidated the card.

Most government entities (USPS etc) will not accept said card for a transaction.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sign-or-write-see-ID-1282.php

The companies can confiscate my cards if they so wish, but they won't. If they denied use of all cards that were UNSIGNED there would be a big drop in acceptance. Many people don't even bother to sign them and merrily use them for their validity period.

I use my unsigned, but CHECK ID, Visa card a lot at the Post Office. They never check for a signature but they do have a peek at my ID.

I suspect the "Not Valid Unless Signed" on the back of most CC's (but not AMEX) holds very little legal protection for the CCC or the cardholder. After all, an account used exclusively online doesn't even have to have a physical card to be valid. What's important is the paperwork you received with the card that says by using the card you agree to all terms and conditions. A signature seems a throwback to old times when everything was done manually.

The "card not valid till signed" is really an obsolete policy. For Visa and MC to say this indicates some type of acceptance to the contract is silly. I may use the card online, pay at the pump, self swipe and other places that do not have any "merchant" involved.

The policies of ALL credit cards clearly state that activation and use of the card are indication of acceptance to the terms and policies of the cardholder agreement. When a dispute is filed, there is never a request to produce a "signed" card. Rather there is a request from the merchant to provide proof of either a "signed slip" or proof of delivery, use of address verification and inquiry whether or not identification was checked for the transaction.

For example, Walmart checks all ID's for transactions over $100 (or is supposed to as a company policy and as an agreement with their merchant services to reduce fraud).

Many merchants now employ "Enter Billing Zip" as a form of security as well, such as at pay at the pump. Walmart requires entry of Zip for AMEX cards.

In my experience at the post office, ID name is checked against card name, not signatures. I have never had anyone compare signatures to the card, as this is not a security measure. A stolen card can have the signature strip altered and the thief resign so that their signature on slip would match the credit slip.

Finally, I don't agree with a previous post that having a security photo as being narcissistic. My brother is very security minded and uses this feature on his debit and credit cards that offer it. I think a generalization is inappropriate and inaccurate, as are all generalizations.

I don't personally have my picture on my cards, and most of my cards are unsigned. I have never had a merchant, post office included, object or require me to sign in their presence. I do have many merchants ask to see ID as a general merchant policy.

IME IMO

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

chnceit — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:00:29 GMT

i have me and my family picture on it. when they ask for id i hold up my son.lol. then they laugh.

Re: Has anybody else added their picture to a card?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:03:57 GMT

When I got my card from Citi the very nice rep told me I could get myself plastic with my pic on it and when BofA told me the same thing regarding my ATM card I thought it was a cool idea and worthy of consideration. Then I didn't do it. In over 30 years of having "plastic" I have never had a lost or stolen CC and the very few transactions I have had issues with were all inside jobs that were quickly handled by the issuer. If you don't lose stuff there isn't that much of a secuirty problem you can do anything about. If someone wants to obtain CC numbers and associated info out the back door of a transaction processor it is totally beyond your control.