Why the hell do places ask for ID when paying by credit/debit card ?

[DOSfan]

Originally posted by: deftron

Originally posted by: Pciber
wow. you aren't the smartest.

They are IDing you to make sure someone doesn't "borrow" your card, and make purchases, however small. They are doing it to protect you.

2/10 for the stupid entertainment factor.

Why does Visa make commercials where the whole point of the card is you don't need ID ?


Taco Bell doesn't need to "protect" me ... Visa and my bank cover stolen card purchases.

Actually, Taco Bell was protecting THEMSELVES.

See, if I have a credit card, and send my girlfriend to Taco Bell to credit some food with it - if Taco Bell accepts it, I can then call my credit company and dispute the charges. The credit company then takes back thier money, and Taco Bell gets screwed.

It is a general trend that is brewing.

And the girlfriend story is real, just not by me. A guy sent his girlfriend to a local store around here, and she bought $200 worth of stuff. The guy then disputed the charge, and that store is quickly asking for ID now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: deftron
By the way
Link

Are merchants allowed to set a minimum transaction amount for consumers who wish to use their Visa card?
Merchants are prohibited from establishing a minimum transaction amount for all Visa transactions.
Are merchants allowed to ask for identification when using Visa products?
While a merchant may ask for identification if fraud is suspected, it is contrary to Visa policy to require the consumer to show identification as a condition of the sale. If a merchant asks for identification and the consumer is unable or unwilling to produce it, the merchant is still obliged to accept the consumer?s Visa card. Consumers who experience refusal of service based on identification may either call their card issuer to report the problem or call 1-800-VISA-911.

Also put the minimum purchase thing in there cause someone commented about it.

Wow. The minimum purchase thing I can sort of see, but both of those "policies" exist only to make Visa richer, and to screw the merchants that accept Visa. Why? Well, minimum merchant transaction-processing fees that Visa charges them, and yet, they can't set a minimum purchase amount on their goods, in order to even ensure enough of a profit margin to be able to cover the Visa fees and make a profit. IOW, Visa is using their massive financial power to screw over the smaller merchants. Second, about the id thing - what that does, is essentially force the merchant to accept all of the possible costs due to fraud, rather than Visa. (Did you really think that these CC companies "ate" all of those charges? Ha!) The merchant is just trying to cover their own a** there, and I don't blame them one bit for doing so. If more merchants demanded ID, it would cut down on CC fraud costs all the way around. The fact that Visa wants to prohibit that practice via a "policy", in order to provide their customers slightly higher convenience, at the cost of forcing merchants that are defrauded via a stolen CC, to accept nearly all of the cost of the loss due to fraud, is horribly unfair. There's nothing wrong or unlawful, for a merchant to require ID to purchase anything via CC. Visa might get mad at them, if enough complaints are lodged against that particular merchant, and pull their merchant-processing account, but so what. That would just be Visa cutting off one of their own revenue streams. If they want to do that, in order to promote fraud when using their card, so be it. (Because that's what it really is - Visa is promoting fraud, by having a policy against anything that might interfere with maximal convenience.)