Signing when using a debit or credit card may seen a little uncommon these days, but it does happen. MasterCard now wants to take it all out of the question. The company announced that it plans to get rid of signatures altogether for transactions involving its credit and debit cards, and will happen as soon as April 2018.
MasterCard says that 20 percent of its transactions in North American require cardholders to sign for their purchase. It may seen like a small number compared to past years, but the company wants to drop it down to 0. The company said it will apply this to both credit and debit transactions.
Speaking of which, banking cards went through a big overhaul with the introduction of chips. Rather than sliding, most transactions take place by putting your card in with a chip instead of sliding. MasterCard says that getting rid of signatures will be a “digital evolution.”
You may be concerned that getting rid of signatures will decrease safety, but MasterCard says otherwise. The company stresses that even though signatures will be eventually eliminated, it won’t decrease safety of transactions. The use of things such as tokens, chips, biometrics, and enhanced security in the digital world will make things even more secure than signatures.
