Hey George,

This question is not meant to sound confrontational but rather to gain some of your insight into one of Visa's policies regarding asking for ID.

I have noticed that you posted on several threads words to the effect of "store policy can not over ride credit card policy." My question is, why not? Now before you answer, I did do a little research and found the policy on Visa's web site that states a merchant can not ask for ID. So, I guess my question really needs to go a little deeper. Obviously the initial response would be that by requiring ID the merchant is violating their agreement with Visa. But what does that really mean?

For instance, what if one of the Big Five (Wal-Mart, Exxon, GM, Ford or GE) just decided to start requiring ID to use a credit card. Do you really think that Visa is going to penalize them in any substantial way? I could easily see a company like Wal-Mart telling Visa that they will check IDs and if they don't like it, tough.

People WILL shop at Wal-mart, buy gas from Exxon, cars from Ford, etc... and find a way to pay with plastic. Mastercard, AMEX or Discover, I am confident, would gladly change their policy to take all of the former Visa business if Visa tried to really penalize one of the Big Five.

Of course, realistically, Visa would never let go of Wal-Mart and would cater to them. I'm just not sure that a consumer calling the Visa-911 number to report that company valued at over a quarter of a trillion dollars has violated some internal policy is going to have any real effect.

Again, I'm just asking for your thoughts, not trying to start an argument.

FW

Wonder what would happen to Wal-Mart's sales if they suddenly could not accept credit cards...

Wonder what would happen to Visa's bottom line if they no longer let Wal-Mart accept their cards...


Don't you think 99.9% of those shoppers would find another way to pay?

40%--60% WORLD FIND ANOTHER STORE TO SHOP AT

THE POINT IS THAT THE CREDIT CARD COMPNIES SAY DON'T

YOU GET AN AUTHORIZATION NUMBER
COMPARE THE NAME ON THE FRONT OF THE CARD
and THE SIGNATURES ON THE SLIP AND THE BACK OF THE CARD

"IF" YOU SUSPECT FRAUD DO A CODE-10 CALL

CREDIT CARD POLICY IS CREDIT CARD POLICY

IT DOES NOT CHANGE FROM STORE TO STORE

(the actual policy FROM the credit card company)

They would certainly drop, especially intitially, but I don't think they'd collapse.





I don't believe it would be that high, but it would be significant. Most people would adapt. I believe that most people shop Wal-Mart for their prices (read: to save money*), not because they accept credit cards.

* - "Cash is too expensive" is irrelevant here since most people have no clue about rewards and only use credit for convenience and/or to carry debt.

THERE ARE PROBABLY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WITH BUSINESS CARDS FOR PURCHASES

DO YOU REALLY THINK THE MILLIONS OF BUSINESSES WILL "FIND ANOTHER WAY TO PAY"

NOPE!!!

THEY WILL FIND ANOTHER STORE!!!

We have people that get refunds for BUSINESS PURCHASES...they say they can't have CASH
(even if the refund is only $2.00)

SERVICE DESK "can" give very small refunds in cash

How would the "millions" compare, or factor in, to the percentages you used earlier?

I'LL PAY FOR A USA SURVEY OF ALL BUSINESS CARDHOLDERS WHAT THEY WOULD DO!!!

"40% to 60% would find another store to shop at" ?????

Respectfully, I doubt it would affect even 4% to 6% of the shoppers for any considerable length of time.

If Sally Homemaker is standing in line at WM and ready to pay with her Visa and is told that WM no longer accepts Visa but she can apply for "Credit Card X" which is gladly accepted and takes only a few minutes to get approved, I think Sally is going to use Credit Card X. After all, she's at WM to save money, not use Visa.

Of course, Credit Card X, which ever company that might be (Discover perhaps) has observed Visa's error and aligned itself with WM. They, of course, will allow IDs to be checked because the largest company in the world said they will. If not, WM will move on to a business partnership with Credit Card Z.

As I noted earlier, Visa would never let this happen. They would cater to WM as the cost of losing that merchant would be astronomical.

I agree with Playthecreditgames' comment. People will find a way to shop at WM and pay with a credit card and WM will find a way to keep them coming back, low interest, points, rewards, etc...would all be part of the deal.

I guess my point in all this is that Visa, Mastercard, AMEX and Discover may all have policies that their respective merchants are not to ask customers for ID. However, I believe that is only because the merchants allow that policy to exist. Again, what would Visa really do to WM if they just started requiring ID for credit card purchases? The answer is, of course, they would recognize where they make their money and do what was necessary to retain that profit entity.



...philosophically speaking, of course.

OK...I'M WRONG AGAIN...I ALWAYS AM!!!

I GET PAID TO BE WRONG