Mastercard has announced it will stop requiring signatures at checkout for credit or debit purchases in Canada and the U.S. after April 2018.
"Eliminating the need for signature is another step in the digital evolution of payments and payment security. At first glance, this might sound like a radical proclamation, especially to people who have had credit and debit cards for decades. However, the change matches all of our expectations for fast and convenient shopping experiences," the company said.
The move could have little effect on consumer behavior or interchange income for credit unions and other card issuers, however.
Recommended For You
"I believe that while it makes for great press, it may not make a difference," Lou Grilli, director of payments strategy at CSCU in Tampa, Fla., said. "Merchant terminals are programmed to show a signature screen for credit transactions. Reprogramming all those terminals is monumental." Having a terminal avoid showing the signature screen if the card is a Mastercard but then show it for other cards doesn't make sense, he said.
The interchange schedules are still the same but some consumers may have questions, Grilli added.
"It will certainly cause confusion for a debit card, where a Mastercard cardholder chooses 'signature' but knows that Mastercard does not require signature. Many merchants no longer offer a cardholder a choice, so this confusion will be mitigated, at least in big-box stores," he said.
Nonetheless, signatures just don't appear to play a big role in most card transactions anymore.
"One common misperception is that signatures are not transmitted to the networks, nor to the issuer. The image stays with the merchant, or the merchant processor, and was used for chargeback disputes, but is seldom researched," Grilli explained.
Mastercard said its research shows that most people think it's easier to pay and that checkout lines would move faster if they didn't need to sign when they make a purchase. "According to our research, most consumers are ready for this evolution," it said.
For Grilli, EMV is the answer for issuers worried about the fraud implications. "As we reissue more cards as chip, the verification of authenticity of the chip is much more powerful than validating a signature, which no one is checking," he said.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
