The trouble is that stores are not supposed to accept credit cards that have not been signed by the customer. It's a part of the agreement with the credit card companies.
If you don't sign the back of your credit card, you can occasionally run into a store clerk who will make a fuss about it. This can lead to the rather humorous story of clerks insisting you sign it, then they accept the card from you without a fuss.
But if you think about it, this also means you aren't protecting your card in the event of a theft. The thief's signature could easily be accepted as your own. Many clerks will not bother to check ID even in that circumstance.
But this does lead me to my own favorite way of protecting a credit card. I simply write "SEE ID" on the back, along with my signature. Those rare times that a clerk actually checks the card for a signature, there is an increased chance they will ask for an ID. Not a great one still; probably less than half of the clerks that look at the back of my card actually ask for an ID.
A few stores ask for ID as a matter of course. I worked for one such company while I was in college. The excuses for not having an ID were always quite interesting. Most were apparently kept in cars, although people showed a strong tendency to get lost on the way back to the store.
But then there was the case of the man who claimed to be shopping with his wife's card. No, the woman he was shopping with was not his wife. Yes, upon calling in the card after the rejection, the card was stolen.
Frankly, signing or not signing your card does very little to protect it from abuse. There are too many places where neither the signature nor the identification of the card user (or abuser) will be checked. The best things you can do to protect your card is to be careful about it and report thefts quickly. But I do like having the "See ID" request on my cards to make things just a little harder for a thief at those rare places that do check.
It is a fact that many people fail to use their credit cards properly. Only when they have gained a credit card balance which is difficult to pay off do they begin seeking help. While it is possible to pay off your balance and get out of debt, it is much easier to look for the warning signals which indicate that your spending is getting out of control.
If you find that you are only able to make the minimum payments each month, this is a sign that you've allowed your balance to become so high that it will be difficult to pay off. If any of your credit cards have been maxed out, this is another sign that you need to get your spending limits under control immediately. If you are charging more money on your card than you bring in from your job, this is a bad sign as well. If you are using the money from one credit card to pay off another, this is another bad sign.
If you find that you're in denial, and don't want to talk about how much you owe, it is time to seriously look at your financial lifestyle to see what is wrong. People who are having problems with their credit cards may have to resort to using their retirement savings or other funds in order to get out of debt. People who are seriously in debt will begin using their credit cards in order to buy necessities such as food or gasoline.
If the examples above describe you or someone you know, this is a sign that you are in financial trouble. By this time, it is usually very difficult to pay off your credit cards in a reasonable time period. If you feel that there is nothing you can do, it may be best to begin looking at debt consolidation or even bankruptcy. Before you do either, you should first consult a lawyer or credit counseling service to find out which option is best. The first thing you will want to do is stop using your credit cards.
Adding more money to the balance won't make things easier. While you may not be in a situation which is this serious, if you find that you are buying things on impulse, this is a sign that you shoud stop. If you can't afford to pay for something in cash, this is a sign that you should avoid using your credit card to pay for it. If you really want it, it may be best to save money. If you feel that saving money for the product will take a long time, you should realize that it will take a long time to pay off your credit card as well.
Both Stephanie Foster & Joe Kenny are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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