foreign cards

[cheese]

Have had several interesting tourists with foreign cards in the last few weeks - not all sucky, some just interesting.

American tourist - seemed a perfectly normal customer throughout the transaction, until it was time to pay. Gave me an american Visa debit card, and asked for some cashback, which I said was fine, as we can give cashback on all british debit cards, and I assumed this would be the same. I put the card in and it came straight up as a credit card and therefore we couldn't do cashback, informed the customer this and he was NOT happy. (i believe in the US you can run these sort of cards through as either credit or debit? british cards cant do that though, they are either credit OR debit.)
Him:"I told you to run it through as debit! Do it"
Me:"I'm sorry, your card has come up as a credit card, there is no way I can change that"
Him:"Jeez, people your age can never be bothered to do your job properly" (err, what? so doing my job properly would involve changing the whole British banking system so you can get your cashback? )
Me:"I'm sorry, I cannot give cashback on your card, it just isn't possible with our systems"
Him:"Why the hell did you say I could get cashback and now you can't, you need to get your facts right, do they not train you properly here"
Me:"They do sir, but as your card said "debit" on it I assumed it would be fine, we do not tend to get many american cards in here"
In the end they took the customer over to ring his bank. What a load of hassle, why not just use a ATM? And why did he keep on and on, there was no way I could give him the cashback, grrr.

French tourist - As pretty much all British cards are now chip and pin now, we don't have a problem with signatures anymore, however this ladys french card was not chip and pin. She gave me a card that wasn't signed, I pointed this out and she happily gave me her ID. As she put her cards away, she then said "I don't sign it incase it gets stolen and they forge my signature" Errr wtf? If it gets stolen they are just going to sign your card with any old signature, and be able to copy it easily. Her card was blank, didn't even say "See ID" on it. Was a bit dumbstruck by how stupid that comment sounded

Australian tourist - Gave me a card that just didn't work. Our machine would not accept the type of card she had - one I've never seen before. Had something about aeroplanes on it? And no "Visa" or "Mastercard" logo or anything I recognised. I explained that she'd have to pay with something else, and she got really really upset. Told me to try the card again - I humoured her and did, but, no it wasn't going to work. Again I said that she'd probably have to pay another way, and that her card probably wouldn't work anywhere in the UK, as it seemed to be of a format that I've just never seen before. At this point she actually started crying Said that she'd come over here travelling, and that was the only card she'd brought with her, and she had no other money, and what was she supposed to do if she couldn't buy food? I felt so so bad for her, but come on, that really is something you should check out BEFORE you travel halfway across the world!

Sorry that was so long!

[kerrisan]

In response to your French tourist, I have written "Photo ID" on the back of my debit card instead of signing it so that if ANYBODY uses it they HAVE to show ID. Unfortunately only one place (a gas station) has held me to it without me bringing it up first. Kind of scares me . . . I wonder if I'd be able to sue (or something) the places that didn't ask for ID with my card if it was used by a thief?

But anyway, I recommend writing "Photo ID" on the back of your debit card(s). It would be pretty easy for a thief to duplicate your signature, but it would be pretty hard to duplicate your face!

I don't know if she could get in trouble for not having ANYTHING on the back of her card, but if so, she should just write "Photo ID" on it.

[PuckishOne]

(i believe in the US you can run these sort of cards through as either credit or debit?)

Yes, here in the States we can run the debit cards (with the MC/Visa logos) as either debit or credit.

Having said that, that guy was still an ass and hopefully you'll meet some of my more polite countrymen in the near future.

[Spiffy McMoron]

As she put her cards away, she then said "I don't sign it incase it gets stolen and they forge my signature" Errr wtf? If it gets stolen they are just going to sign your card with any old signature, and be able to copy it easily. Her card was blank, didn't even say "See ID" on it.

There are people here in Canada that do that as well-I can understand their intentions, but not their actions. As long as the theif wasn't of the opposite gender, they could just write the cardholder's name on the card, and cashiers would be none the wiser. But people who just write "Please see ID" on the back of the cards make the most sense to me.

[Kiwi]

for the Aussie tourist

on the back of the card it would have hopefully said PLUS or CIRRUS or something to the like with little symbols that match up to at the ATM

it is very unlikely that a modern bank wouldnt have a compatable card (ive used my kiwi one in 5 countries without a problem)

unless it was a really wierd card....

[cheese]

i can't remember what it said on it.. just had a picture of a plane
was looking about on the internet for cards that it could've been, and apparently there is a type of card called "discover" which the US mainly uses and isn't used here, so maybe its something like that..

[Yossarian]

But anyway, I recommend writing "Photo ID" on the back of your debit card(s). It would be pretty easy for a thief to duplicate your signature, but it would be pretty hard to duplicate your face!

As one of the resident bankers, I have to tell you don't do that!!!!

Firstly, the card is not legally valid unless it's signed. If you lose it and didn't sign it, you may be held responsible for the charges. Also, any shop or bank is perfectly within their rights to refuse an unsigned card. In fact, we are unable to do a cash advance on an unsigned card, even if you then sign it in front of us (unless we know you personally).

Secondly, it is way easier to get a fake ID made up than to forge a decent signature, especially since they'd have to do it smoothly and naturally in front of the clerk. If you only have "See ID" than they can sign your name any way they want, since it'll then match the signature on the fake ID.

Really, the best way to go about it is to sign, and then write "See ID" next to your signature, or in highlighter behind your sig.

[thegiraffe]

I have an issue with idiot customers not signing their cards, then wanting to know why I want to see their ID. I even had one complain to the manager one day because I wanted to see his ID. I can request ID for any reason, and I can refuse to complete the transaction without the ID. I've done it before.

There was also the brainiac who wrote his PIN number on the BACK OF HIS CARD!! I lectured him on that. His friend couldn't even believe his idiocy. I told him to either take a sharpie and cross it out, or get a new card and MEMORIZE the 4 digits. Holy crap - it's not that hard, is it?

[Canarr]

Hey - those PINs tend to pile up!

I've got one for my credit card, one for my debit card, two for my gas station cards, one for my cell phone, one for my business cell phone, one for my video store card, one for the library, one for online banking...

Still, writing the PIN on the back of the card is just ASKING to be ripped off...

[Lehk]

Hey - those PINs tend to pile up!

I've got one for my credit card, one for my debit card, two for my gas station cards, one for my cell phone, one for my business cell phone, one for my video store card, one for the library, one for online banking...

Still, writing the PIN on the back of the card is just ASKING to be ripped off...

if you have a lot to remember some electronic device with secure storage would be acceptable to store all the PIN's. either a PDA or a pocket organizer

[Barefootgirl]

actually the best method for handling multiple PINS is to use a reference PIN instead. Say your reference PIN is 2468. For every card, take the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th numbers from the long number across the middle of the card. That way you get different PINs for all your cards, but you don't have to try and remember them all, you just have to remember your reference PIN.

[Lehk]

actually the best method for handling multiple PINS is to use a reference PIN instead. Say your reference PIN is 2468. For every card, take the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th numbers from the long number across the middle of the card. That way you get different PINs for all your cards, but you don't have to try and remember them all, you just have to remember your reference PIN.

that's real clever, i like it.

[karma_gypsy]

I don't understand if people are so worried about theft, why can't they just write both "see ID" and their signature?

[Becks]

I don't understand if people are so worried about theft, why can't they just write both "see ID" and their signature?

Because that would make sense.

[HYHYBT]

I just checked Discover's site. They have lots of nice designs, but no airplanes. (My card was just reissued and I picked the tiger) Some banks do still issue their own ATM cards, which can't be run as credit and so wouldn't work through your machine, but probably would at an ATM. Maybe it was one of those.

As for PINs, I know the one for my debit card. The others it doesn't matter because I don't use them for cash, though I'd be sure to set one I could remember before leaving the country just in case!

My system for picking PINs, and any other time I need a semi-random number, is simple. In middle school, well, at home but while I was enrolled in middle school, I put a simple program on my Adam asking for a ten-digit number before you could use BASIC. (It didn't work well; for one thing, because of how it stored the number it changed the last digit to 0 whenever I saved, and for another you could just press CTRL-C) Naturally I memorized that number, and ever since simply pick a section of it whenever I need one. Makes the "new" number incredibly easy to remember, yet it's secure because it really is a random number, just one I chose well in advance