So I know under California Civil Code § 1747.08, it is unlawful to request this information at any time during a transaction in which a credit card it tendered, even if the customer is not required to provide it. Businesses can ask to see identification, but cannot write the information down.
So that means that merchants are allowed to require identification when using a credit card, HOWEVER, if your credit card has your picture already printed on it, doesn’t that count as your identification, and are you still required to show them your Driver’s License or ID if your picture is clearly there on the card?
The only reason I’m asking is because a couple of times I’ve just stuck my credit card (with my picture on it) in my pocket instead of carrying everything around with me…then for instance, I was at a bowling alley, I went to buy some nachos and she absolutely refused to process my transaction without seeing my ID…my effing picture was right there on it. Ticked me off quite a bit.
Yea thats why they put photos on there. So you won’t have to show other ids. But stores might have extra procedures on their own just in case. I guess. But I think for large transactions you would want people checking IDs even if it has photo on it.
It is inconvenient, but the store might have had some experience with ID theft. Or the area. Or could be just store policy. I can tell you you’ll be lot more pissed if someone got away with ID theft because they were good at putting photos on credit card.
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2 Responses to “Credit Cards with ID Photo?”
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March 17th, 2010 at 6:16 am
Yea thats why they put photos on there. So you won’t have to show other ids. But stores might have extra procedures on their own just in case. I guess. But I think for large transactions you would want people checking IDs even if it has photo on it.
It is inconvenient, but the store might have had some experience with ID theft. Or the area. Or could be just store policy. I can tell you you’ll be lot more pissed if someone got away with ID theft because they were good at putting photos on credit card.
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March 17th, 2010 at 6:41 am
TECHNICALLY, it is against both Visa and Mastercard’s policies for a merchant to ask for ID. However, the enforcement of this policy is left to the individual banks. So in theory your bank could report the merchant to the card network and they might not be allowed to accept the card anymore. In reality, however, most banks don’t care and this policy is unenforced.
As far as the law is concerned, there is nothing stopping a merchant from asking for ID or refusing the sale if they choose to do so.
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