04/11/2018

Retailers Prepare as Signatures Become a Thing of the Past

Merchants will soon be able to avoid requiring signatures for purchases

Soon enough, signing for your card purchases will become a thing of the past. And many retail and merchant groups can’t wait.

Later this week, the four largest card networks—American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa—will drop the requirement that retailers take signatures with purchases, a move that appears to reflect a frequent criticism of the signatures—that they are a weak form of security that is outdated. The decisions by the card providers came separately—with Mastercard making the first move in October—but by January, all four major providers had made the big move.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association was quick to cheer on Mastercard’s October decision, saying it “acknowledges what retailers have long-argued, that signatures are a costly yet feeble means of securing transactions.” In the past, RILA and similar groups have discouraged the use of signatures in recent years and pushed instead for financial firms to switch to the chip and PIN standard used with cards globally.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.