Just a thought....
I know the chip is suppose to be an extra security measure that I believe is said to reduce scams from a magnetic strip or stealing numbers. But if you have a stolen card, what does the chip do? Particularly if no one is asking for ID or matching signatures (when required) considering it's almost useless when not signing on paper.
I can't recall the last time someone asked for my ID, whether a frequent customer or not, I'm almost never asked for ID. Actually never in the past many years. No one asks to see my card to "try" to verify signature (if the back is signed).
What's that all about? Before the chip I was asked at least occasionally to provide ID and even less times asked to view my card for signature verification.
@Trudy wrote:Just a thought....
I know the chip is suppose to be an extra security measure that I believe is said to reduce scams from a magnetic strip or stealing numbers. But if you have a stolen card, what does the chip do? Particularly if no one is asking for ID or matching signatures (when required) considering it's almost useless when not signing on paper.
I can't recall the last time someone asked for my ID, whether a frequent customer or not, I'm almost never asked for ID. Actually never in the past many years. No one asks to see my card to "try" to verify signature (if the back is signed).
What's that all about? Before the chip I was asked at least occasionally to provide ID and even less times asked to view my card for signature verification.
Come to think of it...it has been quite some time when I have been asked for a ID when making a purchase.
Right. It seems like the 1st or at least next line of defense against fraud is the old school method....ask for ID.
You know, since fraud is skyrocketing and all 
I know a lot of fraud is online but ripe for in store purchases when there's no identity verification. I'm never offended if I'm asked and dont' have it (I think I always do). I feel like you're protecting me even if I can't buy what I want at the moment because I failed to travel there with ID.
"Thank you Mr/Ms store. I'll be back."
The only businesses that have ever asked me for ID was the Apple store and Verizon Wireless. VZW wanted to verify I was dealing with my own account. Bestbuy needs ID for pickup on ship to store purchases.
Now that we are dealing with COVID many places don't want a signature on paper receipts but they are cashless.
Last year I got the updated MasterCard from my primary bank. Verification told me I do not exist in the system. Made me wonder why they sent the card. The card was mine and it was sent to my home address.The TL was thirty years old at that time. Never any verification issues previously.
I went to the bank to be verified. The lady who did the verification knew me well. She needed ID of course. She made a call to where ever they call to do that. They put her through so many hoops to verify that she is who she said she was. I was amazed at that. She was required to provide codes and a lot of info. Took quite awhile.
USPS needed an ID to verify me for Informed Delivery. The verification questions I was presented with online had nothing to do with me. If those weird questions are the new verificaiton we are in deep stuff. 
Fraudster: Whew. The transaction went through, YAY! Now let's hope there's no issue with delivery or pickup.
Me: How did this D@&^ transaction go through? That's not my signature!!! They spelled my name wrong!!!
@iced wrote:Regarding stripe (swipe) vs chip (insert), the key difference is in the underlying tech. Mag stripes simply store your information, right there, for anyone with a magstripe reader to have it. Chips also store it, but they also generate one-time cryptograms for each transaction, so there's a fingerprint if you will of each transaction. Stripes cannot do that.
EMV chips should be replaced by NFC ASAP, as it's even better - it generates single-use transactions, including unique card number info, and it has MFA built-in since each transaction requires you to log in/thumbprint/face scan/something to do. Steal my phone and you have to get past the pincode and the biometric code before you can do anything with those cards. In the meantime, I've already cancelled those numbers and had new ones issued.
Signature and physical ID verification aren't widely used anymore because they're an obsolete, slow, and highly unreliable means of security. They rely on people, and people are the least reliable and trustworthy component in the chain. I trust the POS terminal 100x more than I do the poorly-paid clerk at the register, and nobody's checking signatures once the signed slip is past the clerk and in the till. A computer can analyze 100 million transactions in the time it takes a human to review 1 signature.
I once met an old fellow who still insisted on calling up his banker on the phone to process transactions. I would ask why and he would give me lines like "you can't trust computers" and "the phone is more secure" and, perhaps most insane, "there's just something nice about working with an actual human".
I surmised he simply didn't know any better and/or feared technology.
That's the best explanation I've heard regarding why the chip is better. But if someone steals your cards how does that protect you? Although it may be true, it's hard for me to understand we care about seconds to a minute at most to request an ID that shows your face and a name that matches the card name to at least take that step to protect against fraud.
I do know CC have their own protection but it still can be a headache for the cardholder when asking for ID could reduce this by at least a bit if not significantly. I don't expect the world to save a few seconds for the sake of security because that's what we are now in my opinion, but jeesh! Steal a wallet/card and you're good to go.
This really wasn't about the chip but I do appreciate the information provided. It was more so about security and fraud and the simple steps I think we could take that used to be taken (at least for some) to verify it is your card. True there are ways around this with fake ID's, etc, but it seems like a simply, non time consuming step that is not new, just not used much anymore.
