The big financial moments in life used to be marked with a flourish of a pen. Buying a house. A car. Breakfast.
Not anymore. Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express dropped the requirement to sign for charges like restaurant checks in 2018. They don’t look at our scribbles to verify identity or stop fraud. Taps, clicks and electronic signatures took over the heavy lifting for many everyday purchases—and many contracts, loan applications and even Social Security forms. The John Hancock was written off as a relic useful mainly to inflate the value of sports memorabilia.
But signatures didn’t die.
We continue to be asked to sign with ink on paper or using fingers on touch screens at many restaurants, bars and other businesses. And people keep signing card receipts out of habit—even when there is no blank space for it—because it feels weird not to, payment networks and retail groups say.
“Traditions have this odd way of sticking around,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores.
“We” don’t, outside of America tap is the norm and I’ve made payments up to 1200$ with only a pin entry required. It’s kind of bizarre that if I pay 7 bucks in the US for a pastry and coffee I might need to sign the receipt.
Even more American is that the only ones you need to sign are those with Tip lines
On the other hand, when I travel to Mexico where they use PINs my card asks for a signature because it doesn’t have a PIN