<p>I just received some replacement cards as my VISA was being used out of state in Oklahoma. All attempts were by entering the number, not actually swiping the card. Do you sign your name, your name and the words "check ID" or just check ID?</p>
<p>My teenagers hate when I write check ID, but having just received a new set of cards I am reluctant not to.</p>
<p>I don’t sign it- then they have to check id. Why would your kids care what you write on your card?</p>
<p>I sign check identiification, along with my signature.</p>
<p>If it’s lost or stolen an unsigned credit card is that much easier for a thief to sign with a signature which will then match the one he/she signs on credit card purchases!</p>
<p>I monitor my credit cards regularly on line and while a charge to my account had gone through ( supposedly through a home show type affair), that was in error, I have had any inaccurate charges taken care of immediately.</p>
<p>I sign it, the signature wears off, and then some places check ID–although most still don’t.</p>
<p>I also sign see ID. I use capitalone which allows you to set alert when a charge is over certain limit( you set it) or incurs in foreign country via email or text</p>
<p>You can write SEE ID with a sharpie. Doesn’t wear off for awhile. Don’t leave it blank. Stores can refuse it if there is nothing there, and if you loose it…</p>
<p>They don’t even check your signature half the time- so what difference does it make what you write?
Additionally for small purchases- like under $25, you don’t need to sign a slip.
[Visa</a> to Offer Popular “No Signature” Program to Majority of Merchant Categories in the U.S.](<a href=“Visa, a trusted leader in digital payments”>Visa, a trusted leader in digital payments)
It is more important to keep track of your purchases IMO.</p>
<p>Get a Costco Amex card. Then you get a picture of yourself right next to the signature!</p>
<p>This is new territory for me (and I worked in the credit card industry for several years). My understanding is that you have to sign the card for it to be valid. Many places (eg, the post office in my town) won’t accept it without your signature; I don’t think they would accept “check id” in the signature box. You are not liable beyond $50 anyway if your number is stolen (mine has been stolen twice in the past 20 years, but not recently). Putting “check id” in that box wouldn’t do you much good that I can see.</p>
<p>I do use a fine point sharpie so the signature does not wear off.</p>
<p>I like the picture idea but there are too many places that won’t take Amex…</p>
<p>Sharpie using the name on the front of the card. Writing “check id” on the back with no signature is not the way to go. The merchant is not supposed to accept the card w/o a signature. The mechant cannot ask for ID on a visa - the card itself is all that’s needed. </p>
<p>You are covered if your card/number is stolen.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what you write on the back but if you don’t sign it - and the clerk cks the back (which is what, maybe 10% of the time??) and says “oh, you didn’t sign it” - anyone can just sign it right then, like maybe the person who took the wallet? Most credit card fraud occurs when your magnetic stripe has been read and stored by a thief been made into a new piece of plastic. Even though I have never lost my wallet, never had my physical card stolen…and I have 10 yrs experience in credit card industry (mostly in fraud prevention), I have had my card stripe stolen and presented at a register all the way across the country. Anytime your card is taken out of your sight, the clerk (gas station, restaurant) has the opportunity to read that mag stripe on a little card reading device.</p>
<p>Best prevention is keeping on top of your statements - and have a good credit card company that detects strange transactions like my card being used in Michigan and NJ and California on the same day.</p>
<p>As a merchant, I can tell you that CHECK ID means the card cannot legally be accepted. </p>
<p>I sign with a fat black sharpie and flamboyantly, so it takes up the whole of the signing space.</p>
<p>If you’re really worried, get your photo on your credit card. Not that hard to do with most companies.</p>