Credit card signature phase-out complete this weekend

From Monday we will farewell the humble credit card signature, as the 11-week rollover period comes to an end. During the rollover period, which started on 1 August, merchants who had not yet upgraded their terminals could still allow customers to opt for the signature, however from October 20 the signature transaction option will be taken away from retailers.

It seems the PINwise campaign has been successful, as results from a Tyro Payments survey of 11,000 small and medium-sized businesses showed that customers who are given a choice between the PIN and signature are now opting for the former 99.6% of the time, compared to just 59% in November last year.

A few exceptions still allowing signature transactions include cards issued outside Australia, magnetic stripe cards which have not yet been replaced with a chip card, and signature-preferred cards for those with a genuine need to sign.

For small businesses such as restaurants and cafes, the move to PIN changes the way patrons tip. Instead of including a tip in writing, customers will now have to enter an amount into the terminal, which is added to the total amount before you enter your PIN.

Andrew Rothwell from Tyro Payments said that their new system “integrates the restaurant management software and the payment terminal, allowing patrons to use the EFTPOS terminal on the table at their own pace to split the bill, tip and pay using their PIN”.

“With appropriate wait staff training, customers can be given enough privacy to pay a tip using Tyro’s easy to navigate workflow, which avoids the nightmare of lost tips among hard-working wait staff,” Rothwell added.

For more info on how the switch to PIN will impact the way you pay, read Mozo’s in depth guide here.