Thread: Merchants aren't allowed to require your ID

I read an article on MSN Money about credit card myths and #3 was that merchants are allow to require photo ID when you pay with a credit card.

FALSE! Merchant's agreements with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express specifically forbid a merchant from requiring an ID. The signature is supposed to be enough.

If merchants weren't breaking enough rules to make it worse Visa and Mastercard contracts with merchants are supposed to prevent them from even asking for any ID at all! Discover and American Express don't outright ban it like Visa/MC but they do strongly discourage it.

I can't tell you how many times in my life I have been able to make a purchase, small purchases, simply because I didn't have my drivers license on me. This pisses me off that merchants do this to us when they're not supposed to! How can we report them to the credit card companies?

While Visa/MC discourages the ID requirements, it is ultimately up to the merchants. Try walking into a store, buying something with your CC, and insisting that you should not be required to show ID. You won't get the product(s) you want.

It is unfortunate that many merchants do violate this rule the credit card companies have set in place. They made that rule to benefit the consumer in order to make credit card purchases as simple and stress-free as possible.

If you would like to report violations I would recommend calling the number on the back of the card you tried to pay with.

Every time I've been asked since then I just wish I could whip out proof that they're not allowed to ask for ID but those cashiers aren't taught the first thing about this stuff so they wouldn't know. I don't get how all these stores get away with this and actually train their employees to ask for ID when it's not allowed. Am I missing something or shouldn't this be enforced?

Actually had this happen last night..... Hardware store claims it is store policy to check I.D. for all credit cards.... What can I say when this happens... Isn't there a piece of literature I can show them or a phone number for Mastercard?

Those merchant terminals should be set up the same way as the gas pump terminals are, requiring you to enter your zip code for the charge to be authorized, and then no merchant cashier would have to ask for ID.

Do you think that would work okay in small towns though? I know the town I grew up in had the same zip code for the entire area so in a place the size of that I'm not sure. Most major areas it would work fine. I think a pin like debit cards have would be an easy way to go to.

extra security I suppose just to make sure you are who you say you are...