Credit Card? Can I see some ID please?
January 22, 2008 – 8:30 amIf you're new here, I suggest you subscribe to my RSS feed. or bookmark this blog. You'll be able to easily keep up to date with new posts. Thanks for visiting!
On my recent trip to California with my girlfriend I noticed an extremely disturbing trend out there. Almost everywhere you go merchants ask for ID when you choose to pay with a credit card. Some merchants even have minimum amounts like $20 minimum for them to accept a credit card.
These two things annoy me a great deal.
You shouldn’t be required to show ID. It’s against the merchant agreement with the credit card companies to require ID. Requiring ID doesn’t prevent fraud as it’s extremely easy to create an ID with name and a picture to match. The credit card companies don’t want the hassle of showing ID because they want using a credit card to be as easy as using cash (or easier).
The minimum purchase amount is total BS. It’s also against the merchant agreement to set up an arbitrary minimum purchase amount. The whole point of a minimum purchase is basically because of profit margins. Merchants will typically pay $0.30 cents or so per transaction plus 2-3% free. By setting a minimum purchase, the $0.30 cent fee gets spread over a larger dollar amount so they don’t lose money on say $1 purchases. However setting a minimum amount like $20 is ridiculous. If you think $10 credit card purchases are a hassle then don’t accept credit cards.
Disneyland is a mixed bag. At Disneyland when I purchased 2 day admission tickets at the front gate for $132 I was not asked for ID. Neither was I asked at the gift shops where I bought my “I’m Bringing Grumpy Back T-Shirt” and Mickey Mouse hats where my purchases totaled roughly $50. However at two food locations we frequented where the purchases were around $15 and $10 respectively. Both cashiers… I mean “cast members” asked me for ID. Perhaps the training isn’t consistent in the differing departments.
The Consumerist has a great post on information for reporting merchants that require a minumum purchase or require you to show ID.
3 Responses to “Credit Card? Can I see some ID please?”
Hey I agree with you about the minimum purchase thing. That is totally ridiculous.
Why are you disturbed about the places that ask for ID? I WANT them to ask for ID when I make a purchase. I think about if my credit card gets stolen and someone can just use it to make a large purchase without showing Id.
While the ID does not prevent people stealing your money it does help to slow it down a bit. If some guy takes my credit card and then cannot show ID to prove he is a female then he just might think twice about using the card and then I won’t lose the money.
I wish the credit card companies would set up a way that you could input an alert for purchases over a certain amount then it would ask for your ID. I don’t mind the 50 cent candy bar but I would just lose my mind if someone stole my card and swiped it for a $400 purchase.
By lulugal11 on Jan 22, 2008
It’s a California urban legend. Since I moved to the San Joaquin Valley about a year ago I found that almost 100% of stores asked for “some ID” with a CC purchase. It’s very annoying. I started reporting it every time and everyplace I reported stopped doing it. It’s pretty useless to talk to managers or corporate offices I’ve found. Reporting to the credit card companies seems to work
By Paula Green on Jan 23, 2008
@ lulugal11
Creating a fake ID with your name on the ID but their picture isn’t hard and takes roughly 5 minutes.
My girlfriend writes “SEE ID” on the back of her credit cards but this is also a big no-no. Signing that box says that you agree with the credit card issuer’s terms and conditions for using that card.
You aren’t responsible for any purchases when someone steals your credit card. So they technically aren’t stealing “your” money but rather the bank’s money.
By hejustlaughs on Jan 30, 2008