Clark Howard's Tips
August 11, 2008
Have you ever used your credit card and been asked for ID or told you'd have to make a minimum purchase? Both stipulations are against the merchant guidelines that govern Visa and MasterCard.
Clark is not upset when he's asked for ID; he sees it as another safeguard, even if it is against the guidelines. However, there is some recourse available if you are peeved.<
MasterCard has a simple-to-use form where you can alert them if a merchant required ID or a minimum purchase. Clark has no idea what becomes of this info once you submit it to MasterCard.
Visa, on other hand, has no such procedure in place. So they have a rule, but no enforcement.
The underlying issue here is that we're still using '60-era magnetic strip technology for credit cards. Europe and Asia, meanwhile, are years ahead of us with their smart chip technology. With the smart chip, you're required to enter a secret code to use your credit card. But the banks that issue cards don't want to spend the money to have a safe system on our shores!
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More Clark Howard Credit and Banking Tips
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