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Comment by brandon272 | Hacker News Reader

In Canada I have not signed for a credit card transaction in years. Everything is tap to pay and chip-and-pin for larger amounts. Extremely convenient.

When I go to the U.S. I usually have to produce ID when using my credit card. Is this because I am from out of country or do they do this with everyone paying by credit card?

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It's because you're from out of country. You'll almost never be asked to produce ID with a standard credit card purchase in the US, unless it's unusual in amount.

I'm in my late 30s and have never once been asked to produce proof of ID in relation to a standard credit card purchase. Whether at a grocery store, restaurant, etc. I've never seen anyone else have to show ID either, maybe once in the 1980s.

I write “please check ID” on the back of all my cards.

I’m astonished when someone actually does check my ID.

It happens maybe once or twice a year.

I've been doing this for 2 decades. I once had a surreal experience when one store clerk in the US complained that my signature did not match the one in the back of the card. My pleas of "that's not a signature, it's a request to check my ID, which you haven't done" did not move him so I had to request his manager's presence.

It only happened once and that was many (15+) years ago, but if you ever wondered if it could happen, yeah it could. :)

I do this, and I was very confused to find out that if you try to do this at some government buildings (post office for me) they will completely reject your card and not let you use it.

I have both my signature (because it's required for the card to be valid) and "See ID" on the back of my card. I get asked for my ID about half of the time or so. It's rare to be asked at restaurants, but retailers are pretty good at checking.

I've always thought the signature was security theater, asking for a photo ID is way better from a security standpoint.

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