Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

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BillyShears
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by BillyShears »

Tap and go baaaaaaby

mattorama12
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by mattorama12 »

I've given my credit card to my then-girlfriend, now fiance, to go shopping for me. She had no issue with the store clerks, but I did receive a fraud alert since my credit card company apparently knew that I was more of a Target shopper than a Nordstrom shopper.

CosmicMonkey
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by CosmicMonkey »

I just got my own first credit card a few months ago, and I've only ever used it for online purchases, so I still don't really understand how it works, BUT as far I as understand it, credit cards that require you to enter a PIN code, do not require signatures. and PIN cards have been around (in Canada) for at least 10-15 years. So if you give your card to someone and tell them the PIN code, then they can buy stuff with your card. Of course, nowadays, instead of PINs people can choose just have to the tap and go cards, which I guess anybody can use.

But then I'm reminded of the scene in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere gives Julia Roberts his credit card and she goes on a shopping spree with it, so presumably this was something that was possible before PIN cards became a thing.

Credit cards? How do they work?
?

How come in old movies tellers at stores are always seen calling up the credit card company on the phone? Is that what you had to do every single time? That must've been a pain in the ass.

mattorama12
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by mattorama12 »

movieboy wrote:
mattorama12 wrote:I've given my credit card to my then-girlfriend, now fiance, to go shopping for me. She had no issue with the store clerks, but I did receive a fraud alert since my credit card company apparently knew that I was more of a Target shopper than a Nordstrom shopper.


Did she forge your signature?


Probably? Or maybe it wasn't required. Not really sure. I was actually surprised it worked to be honest.

CosmicMonkey wrote:But then I'm reminded of the scene in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere gives Julia Roberts his credit card and she goes on a shopping spree with it, so presumably this was something that was possible before PIN cards became a thing.


I just watched that movie for the first time (from start to finish) with said fiance and we joked about that part.

CMonster
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by CMonster »

I was always under the impression that if you lent your card to somebody they would sign their own name and then any questions could be resolved by asking the card owner who hand legitimate access to use the card.

Midaso
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by Midaso »

I've got one but can't remember ever having to sign,just enter PIN

ribcage
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by ribcage »

Alot of places don't require signature until you reach a certain amount, say $50 or so. Movies do exaggerate with sprees, though in the time of Pretty Woman fraud protection might not have been as quick to shut down a card ( but the clerks should have been far more wary themselves than they are now).

You can sign anything, at least now. During Pretty Woman somebody in the store should have checked the signature and ID etc but no clerks do that anymore unless you're acting sketchy. I read an article years ago where a guy signed random stuff working his way up to signing "not authorized" for everything. No one questioned it (card company or clerks) until he was trying to buy a 3-$5000 Tv.

CosmicMonkey
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by CosmicMonkey »

I don't think so. I remember hearing that they were first being introduced in the States a couple of years ago, after they'd already been around for a decade in Canada. Like I worked a retail job in high school (i.e.2008-2011) and probably only 5-10% of the credit card transactions required signatures at that point, and a majority of those were probably American tourists. And according to my research, PIN cards weren't introduced in the US until 2015. And even tap and go had been around up here, for several years before they were introduced in the US. Surprisingly, credit cards, are pretty much one of the only things that United States actually lags behind the majority of the world on.

(well that, and gun control, but that's a completely different can of worms entirely. ;) )
Last edited by CosmicMonkey on Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mattorama12
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by mattorama12 »

CosmicMonkey wrote:I don't think so. I remember hearing that they were first being introduced in the States a couple of years ago, after they'd already been around for a decade in Canada. Like I worked a retail job in high school (i.e.2008-2011) and probably only 5-10% of the credit card transactions required signatures at that point, and a majority of those were probably American tourists. And according to my research, PIN cards weren't introduced in the US until 2015. And even tap and go had been around up here, for several years before they were introduced in the US. Surprisingly, credit cards, are pretty much one of the only things that United States actually lags behind the majority of the world on.

(well that, and gun control, but that's a completely different can of worms entirely. ;) )


Don't forget internet! And it's only getting worse.

geohawk
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Re: Question about Hollywood movies and Credit Cards

Post by geohawk »

In "community property" states it is possible for a spouse to sign using their partner's card. Older cards did not have a magnetic strip, so the transaction was recorded by taking an impression of the card. Electronic transaction approval would not have been available. In certain circumstances, the merchant would want to call to get approval before accepting the transaction, especially if they were going to eat the loss if it turned out to be a fraudulent transaction (like with a card issued by a department store).

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