NEW YORK—American Express announced it is eliminating a requirement that merchants collect cardmembers’ signatures for all purchase transactions at the point of sale, beginning in April 2018.
The move, which applies globally to all American Express-accepting merchants, will help provide a more consistent and simplified checkout experience for merchants and card members in regions around the world, speed up the process of paying in store and help reduce merchants’ operating expenses associated with retaining signatures, the company stated.
“The payments landscape has evolved to the point where we can now eliminate this pain point for our merchants,” said Jaromir Divilek, executive vice president, global network business, American Express. “Our fraud capabilities have advanced so that signatures are no longer necessary to fight fraud. In addition, the majority of American Express transactions today already do not require a signature at the point of sale as a result of previous policy changes we made to help our merchants.”
The need for signatures has declined around the world due to a number of advancements in the payments industry. These include the growth of contactless payment options, including card-based and mobile tap-and-pay methods, the global adoption of EMV chip technology, and the continued expansion of online commerce. American Express has also deployed advanced machine learning algorithms that allow for more precise detection of fraud while minimizing disruption of card members’ genuine spending, the company said.
The elimination of American Express’ signature requirements will apply to purchase transactions of all amounts at the point of sale. American Express is the first payment network to announce this change globally, expanding previous policy changes it has made in various regions, the company said.
The Merchant Advisory Group, an organization that represents many large merchants on payments-related topics, believes American Express’ decision will make the checkout process more efficient for merchants and their customers, said Laura Townsend, senior vice president of operations for the group.
“We commend American Express’ decision to eliminate signature requirements,” Townsend said. “This move will help merchants provide a quicker check-out experience for more customers by removing potential friction at the point of sale.”