Tuesday, October 13, 2015
This topic was inspired by Planet Money podcast on signatures.
Have you been to a place recently; grocery store, coffee shop, etc and when you make your purchase with your debit or credit card, you are asked the magical question "Can I have your signature?". Obviously, as a consumer, you want the good you just purchased, ergo will sign. But ever wonder what happens to that signature? Whether or not it's a physical signature or electronic signature since we have tablets and smartphones in today's life, you are required a signature for about anything.
Signatures were made to protect identities, to legitimize a contract, prove that you are there and understand what is going on. Marriage requires signatures, birth certificates, coffee, personal checks(if people still use checks, c'mon people), when you buy a house (infinite signatures that one does not really know what they are signing), taxes, etc. I can stay up all night listing a million things because there is signatures everywhere.
Signatures prove that you are you, yet signatures are "required" in the back of all cards... So if I were to steal a card, one could look in the back of a card and sign the way the card has it. Yes, signatures are a little hard to do specially those more sophisticated ones, but not many people sign their cards anymore, nor people actually sign their names in the signature line of the receipt.
I work in a restaurant where I am required to check ID for any debit/credit card transaction for the protection of both consumer and us. This idea makes more sense when it comes to protection of identities because I've seen people just scribble a line, cross out the area or even draw some geometric figures on the signature line. People don't really care about signing their name, they just want their good or service they are purchasing.
I conducted a few experiment at work with this signature situation. Since we are required to check ID's, I always check matching first and last name, photo and address. Why address? Because why the person is signing and there is a long pause of 10 seconds (plus or minute 3 seconds) for the customer to sign, there is an awkward silence. I enjoy talking to folks so knowing where someone is from gives me a slight conversation started to make the time less awkward, and maybe I learn something new from that region they are from, also could increase the connection between the customer and me helping them out that could cause an increase in a tip. Back to the signature thing, instead of the line "can I have you sign this please" I began to use "Can I get an autograph below" just simply for once again making the situation a little more pleasant and increases the chance that the person would write their name not just some scribbly line that is meaningful.
PIN's are a little more safe but they are still a type of signature just slightly modified and we are living in the new Apple Pay era where one can pay with your fingerprint which is absolutely brilliant and goes beyond the original signature with hand and pen. This helps minimize the risks of fraud so it's cheaper for banks to not have to deal with fraud as often. Yet, the main reason why firms required signatures is that if there was any fraudulent transaction then they'll have to go discuss that with the bank and the bank will tell the firm "you should've gotten a signature" so they do it as a protection. Yet one should take the time to actually write their name because one day if some strange transaction happens with your account and they retrieve the signed copy and you didn't write your name, the bank might not be able to help you out.
No comments:
Post a Comment