By the way it is not legal to use a card if it does not have your name on it or your signature on the back as a cosigner on the account and the card company will not honor a charge if it is challenged and you have not checked the signature.
Not true, according to my research. Can you point to a citation?
Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ
no states issue licenses with out of state addresses
This is not true. Servicemembers and their families stationed
overseas that have their driver’s license expire while they are
stationed overseas may very well have a different address. My
husband and I are residents of Florida however we do not rent or own
any property within the state of Florida or any other state for that
matter. The only US address we have is our FPO w/a California
zipcode. All else is normal on my husband’s driver’s license. To
make things even more fun, Florida provided my license with a
special message, “Valid without photo and signature” in the area
where my photo would normally be. 100% valid. Although not as useful
as a ‘normal’ drs lic for obvious reasons.
I understand the need for caution and usually use my passport for ID.
Hello, Orchid
Below is the citation regarding credt-holder ID. Basically, the
citation means that either the signatures match, or the cardholder
must provide ID. A magnetic strip must be accompanied by a numeric
code or password, the strip itself is not sufficient. A caveat, this
is all I could find on short notice, there may be more in-depth,
more up-to-date, and more accurate elsewhere. In other
words, I could be incorrect on this matter.
At first blush, it appears to me that the Visa policy, possibly
out-of-context in a prior post, possibly refers to merchants
refusing a card with matching signatures because the card holder
didn’t have ID with them.
For those who don’t know (and I didn’t until my paralegal training)
regulations adopted by agencies such as the FTC and FCC are laws.
Under the federal law, agencies are allowed to created laws
(regulations) governing situtations specific to those agencies,
simply because Congress (believe it or not) can’t regulate
everything. People in violation of these regulations are subject to
penalties.
For CYA purposes, I recommend asking for ID, and checking
signatures. All you are doing is making sure you are in compliance
with FTC regulations
OK, the wildly boring stuff:
This paragraph is from Regulation Z, of the Federal Trade
Commission Code of Federal Regulations.
Paragraph 12(b)(2)(iii).
1. Means of identifying cardholder or user. To fulfill the
condition set forth in 226.12(b)(2)(iii), the issuer must
provide some method whereby the cardholder or the authorized
user can be identified. This could include, for example,
signature, photograph, or fingerprint on the card, or electronic
or mechanical confirmation.
2. Identification by magnetic strip. Unless a magnetic strip (or
similar device not readable without physical aids) must be used
in conjunction with a secret code or the like, it would not
constitute sufficient means of identification. Sufficient
identification also does not exist if a pool or group card,
issued to a corporation and signed by a corporate agent who will
not be a user of the card, is intended to be used by another
employee for whom no means of identification is provided.
3. Transactions not involving card. The cardholder may not be
held liable under 226.12(b) when the card itself (or some other
sufficient means of identification of the cardholder) is not
presented. Since the issuer has not provided a means to identify
the user under these circumstances, the issuer has not fulfilled
one of the conditions for imposing liability. For example, when
merchandise is ordered by telephone by a person without
authority to do so, using a credit card account number or other
number only (which may be widely available), no liability may be
imposed on the cardholder.
On this last part, MAYBE-this revision dates to 1982, it would seem
that perhaps a merchant could challenge a credit card holder’s
charge-back in these circumstances. Maybe in cases like these, your
customer could fax a signature or driver’s licence. This paragraph
is only idle speculation, and not intended to be used as a defense
or for legal purposes.
Sin Cere,
Susannah Page-Garcia
Moonshine Metal Creations
I had to reply to this one. I have a wireless terminal, but there
are shows where I do not have wireless access. Luckily, my machine
has a store-forward feature, so I still receive the swiped rate.
To illustrate the need for collecting at least a phone number, I’ll
tell of my latest show. Over the weekend I had 23 customers using
credit cards, and on only one did I forget to get a phone number.
Guess which card didn’t go through?
I got the name of the customer’s card provider from my credit card
merchant carrier, and called them to see if I could get this sale to
process. They told me (all 3 times that I have called!) that his
card is good, and don’t understand why it failed to process. They
can’t give me any personal about the fellow, and even
though I have a signed receipt, sending a FAX to them would not be
good enough to process. I told the bank what he bought, the amount of
sale, and they have called him to ask that he call me. To date, I
have not heard from him. I guess he liked the pendant enough to keep,
but doesn’t feel the need to pay for it.
I know I could file a police report, but since I only know his name,
not any personal contact and the place where the theft
(credit card fraud?) occurred is a 4-hour drive away, this would not
be cost effective. I have also heard that most counties don’t even
follow up on these kinds of reports (or bad check, either).
There’s lots of customer protection about their not being
responsible for fraudulent purchases, but woe be to the merchant who
is the victim of a fraudulent sale. Get that phone number, at least,
unless your card sale can be processed at the time of sale. I have
rarely had anyone decline to give me a phone number. I tell them it
is an “insurance policy” that nothing is going to go haywire with my
credit card machine; that if I have it, I most likely won’t need it.
Bev Ludlow
Renaissance Jewelry
http://www.wirewrapjeweler.com