[Gllug] security check

[James Laver]

On 12 Aug 2009, at 10:57, Simon Wilcox wrote:

> On 12/8/09 10:28, James Laver wrote:
>
> I'm not aware that humans do any signature verification either. In the
> last days of my C&S card I routinely signed the chits with a  
> completely
> different signature to that on the card and it was never queried.  
> Not once.

About 1 in 10 people even bother to glance at it, and maybe 1 in 5 of  
those get uppity if it doesn't match exactly. Usually that's in a pub  
after a few beers and no, my signature won't exactly match when  
inebriated.

Sainsburys have a policy whereby purchases over £10 require ID for  
signature cards (presumably because most of their staff are too stupid  
to look at the signature on the card and match it with the receipt).  
Every time we have the same argument that they aren't allowed to ask  
and every time except 1 they've caved in.

>
> To protect my C&P cards I use a card with a small limit for on line
> purchases and a debit card for in person & cash machines that's drawn
> against a current account with no overdraft and only as much cash in  
> it
> as I need at that time to limit any possible exposure.

Visa Electron could well be your friend. It's designed for people with  
poor credit history, you can't go over as it'll just reject the  
transaction (every bank I'm aware of has an informal overdraft  
facility, where they'll just charge you a hefty penalty), and you  
certainly won't incur any of Natwest's "would-have-gone-overdrawn"  
fees, something I need to file court paperwork about.

> With regards to CNP, it's against the merchant rules to take a CNP  
> when
> the card holder is present. You could probably fake it on the odd
> occasion when you take a mix of present and not present but I  
> imagine it
> would be a bit harder to claim a telephone sale at a filling  
> station :-)

I suspect there is weasel wording that would allow you to get away  
with it. A number of people have run a CNP in my presence when  
confronted with my card. I assume liability is shifted back to the  
retailer at this point, but then they still owe the money and you can  
pursue them for it if you deem it worth it.

--James
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