American Express: Signature No Longer Required for Purchases

American Express purchases will no longer require a signature, the company announced Monday.

The credit card issuer will join Discover and Mastercard, which have already eliminated signature requirements for their North American users.

American Express currently doesn’t require a signature for purchases under $50 but will expand that to all purchases globally in April 2018, the company said in a news release.

Visa doesn’t require a signature for transactions under $25 but will now be the only major credit card issuer to require a signature.

American Express said advances in security technology, including chip card technology that creates a unique code for each transaction, makes transactions secure enough not to need a signature to prevent fraud. 

“Having to sign a receipt can be a hassle for customers, and is not necessary to prevent fraud at the point of sale,” Walmart assistant vice president Mike Cook said in the news release.

Not requiring a signature also will likely help retailers cut costs since they are not required to get and keep a record of each customer’s signature, CNN Money reported, and a shorter checkout process, even if just by a few seconds, may also save money and encourage more purchases by consumers. 

“For a merchant like Walmart, every additional second at the point of sale translates into several millions in terms of costs,” Experian digital payment executive Cherian Abraham said, CNN Money reported. 

Customers are becoming increasingly used to making credit card transactions without a signature as online shopping becomes more popular, CNN Money pointed out.

• Costco Credit Card Stumbles as CitiBank Tries to Replace AMEX
• MasterCard Selfie for Payments Made Online Confirms ID