Effective April 14, a rule change at the major credit card companies will make life a little bit easier for travelers – and for everyone else who uses a card for purchases.
That’s when Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover will end the requirement that merchants must get a customer’s signature transactions.
The end of required signatures is a result of the U.S. credit card industry’s big changeover in the past several years to cards equipped with a small chip. The signature rule will remain in place for merchants that aren’t equipped with chip readers, but that is a small and shrinking minority.
While merchants will no longer be required to obtain a customer signature, they will still have the option of doing so if they choose. For example, restaurants may still want to ask for a signature so the customer has the opportunity to leave a tip.
