Debit Card Signature Gripe!

[davebro]

We are told to sign our debit/credit cards immediately upon receipt - BUT how the heck can you put a meaning full signature on the slippy stuff they are made from?
I know the signature bit is more paper-like but it still doesn't accept a ball pen signature easily. And anyway my signature has probably changed beyond recognition since I first submitted samples to my bank - is this just an anachronism?

[Hopkirk]

I don't think anyone has checked a signature on a card of mine for years.

[Maydup]

I haven't signed the back of a card for many years now. No to need now that we all use chip and pin, or better still contactless.

[Electrochem]

I've never had a problem signing mine with a ballpoint pen. You just need to makes sure you don't put too much pressure on the pen.

As for not signing it, see this link:

https://suitsmecard.com/blog/why-its-vital-you-sign-the-back-of-your-debit-card

[davebro]

It's ludicrous & meaningless - you could sign "Mickey Mouse" ! My signature (on a card) bears no resemblance to my printed name.

[bhg481]

It's not meaningless; you just have to be able to reproduce the scribble on the card to convince someone that you are the person who originally signed the card. You might never be asked to do that nowadays but you still need the ability to do it.

[Jackdaw33]

Although it happens once in a blue moon chips can become faulty. It happened to me one Xmas Eve. If it hadn't been for the swipe and sign facility I would have been well and truly up the creek.

[New Judge]

Many years ago a friend of mine once accidentally signed his new credit card upside down. This was back in the day when your card was placed into a roller machine which printed an imprint of your card details on a paper slip which you then signed. Virtually every time he did a spend the trader refused to accept his signature unless he signed the slip upside down!