Archived Large Credit Card Purchases

[Nauzhror]

I'm curious, what exactly is "best practice" in the following scenario:

You are a cashier. Your guest makes a large credit card purchase (ie. over $400).

What exactly are you supposed to do when prompted to enter the last 4 digits of the card?

Everyone but (including the GSTL and every GSA I have witnessed in said scenario) me does the following:

They ask to see the card, they then type in the last four digits and hand the guest back their card.

This seems wrong to me. Surely the purpose of the prompt is to prevent identity theft/fraud.

As such I always ask to see both the card and their ID, and check that the names are the same before entering the #'s.

This is not something I was ever told to do, it's just the only logical thing to do as far as I am concerned since otherwise typing in the last 4 #'s is useless, you're effectively checking nothing, since you aren't verifying that it's their card being used.

 

[StaticSun]

When I would backup electronics during Q4, I'd pull the ol' "can I see your card and ID, please?" trick, but it is not best practice to do that.

It asks for the last 4 of the card to make sure the magnetic strip data matches the physical card. Supposed to prevent people from skimming someone's magnetic strip data and making new cards.

 

[daninnj]

Much like the money pens which are basically worthless, it catches a little bit of counterfeiting but certainly not the majority of it. Pens only catch funny money printed on different paper but the majority of thieves bleach lower denom bills and print higher denoms on them.

That's the same thing with this. Some thieves can get devices where they will load up a card number on another card. Entering the last 4 digits will stop some fake transactions but not most. See this: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/infotheft/2007-07-31-gift-cards_N.htm

 

[Nauzhror]

Interesting, I'd wondered why the prompt didn't specify to request to see their ID as well.

Now I know why, though I'm still not sure why it is considered to not be best practice to do so. Seems that doing so does two things: 1.) protects guests 2.) makes guests feel you are concerned about their protection

ie. Many, many people put "See Id" on the back of their cards rather than signing them because they want people to check ID and stop other people from using their cards if they are stolen.

 

[Retail Girl]

They can't put "and request ID" on the prompt. According to the agreements businesses sign with the credit card companies, businesses are not allowed to ask for ID....even if a person writes "see ID" on the back of their card. They can write "do ten jumping jacks upon reading this" but that doesn't mean the merchant must or even can do it. Technically, the signature on the back of the card indicates that the person agrees to abide by the cardholder agreement, and putting anything else in lieu of a signature means they haven't fulfilled their end of the agreement.

 

[glo]

If I know that the purchase is going to be over $400, I ask for both, the card and ID, at the beginning of the purchase and swipe it at the register myself.

 

[redeye58]

Like everyone here has said, the POS will prompt for the last 4 digits for any large purchase over $400. You MUST ask to physically see the card & enter those digits - as Static said - to verify the physical card info matches. Our recent breach is a case in point as to what can happen when acct info is stolen & used to manufacture bogus cards. This has less to do with one type of ID fraud as opposed to another. By asking for the ID, you're opening yourself up to trouble.
If guests complain, leadership will certainly want to have a conversation with you.

 

[Nauzhror]

By asking for the ID, you're opening yourself up to trouble.
If guests complain, leadership will certainly want to have a conversation with you.

Never actually had a guest show anything but happiness when I ask for their ID, was rather shocked to hear that asking for it was frowned upon actually. I get far more annoyed guests when I ask for their ID when hey're purchasing alcohol - especially when they're clearly older than my parents and have been legal to drink since before I was born.

 

[neversaynever]

It's not just frowned on, it is a violation of merchant agreements. So Target could get in big trouble if someone gets snotty with their merchant.

Another area were arcane policies are supposedly in our best interest in the name of customer service....

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Hopefully, you did ask them for a red card? That is one way you can check the guest's id.

 

[buliSBI]

If it requests for the last four digits, its either a large purchase, there have been an increased use of the card, or sudden use of the card. If the POS prompts to call the verification center, they usually request you to check ID.

Years ago, Target policy used to be cashiers where to only check credit card and ID only when the guest handed the cashier the card. If the guest swiped it in the reader, we were not to ask unless prompted.

Also in situations, if it was someone using her their spouse's/partner's/parent's card, we were told to refuse the transaction.

Then all of sudden we were told to never check ID unless directed or prompted. Target would accept the liability or the insurance to cover any fraudulent purchases.

Just for CYA sake, just follow the POS prompts. Only request for the guest's ID when prompted.

 

[Retail Girl]

Oh, when I was working in a grocery store and asked to see ID for people who wrote, "see ID" on their card, I would get tons of snotty replies. "Oh, I didn't realize I looked dishonest." "I don't have my ID, that's not my fault." "It isn't my card, but you need to take it anyway." It goes on and on. Eventually I realized that the people who were happy to show ID were far less than the people who had reasons they wouldn't show it, so I stopped asking to preserve my own sanity.

 

[mrknownothing]

Oops...I guess I've been violating best practice all this time. I got in the habit of checking ID along with the card back when we had to check ID for credit purchases over $200, and I would check the ID before entering the last 4 digits of the card number (because the register would then prompt for ID anyways).