My increasingly permeable checking account

[dreamshark]

A few years ago my bank helpfully sent me a checking account debit card that could be used like a credit card. I used the debit card for a year or more until I lost it somehow, at which I point I panicked when I realized how easily some stranger could use that card to drain my checking account. I cancelled the card and went back to an ATM, which is no use to anyone else without the PIN number.

A few days ago I wrote a check for almost $200 at Cub Foods. Writing a large check at a grocery store used to be a dramatic event, requiring a manager to be summoned to verify ID. Which was a little annoying, since it seemed like any cashier shoud be able to look at a picture ID and compare a signature, but at least they were being careful. Not any more. The cashier ran my check through a machine and peered at a screen, but ignored my proferred driver's license. "Oh, don't worry about that," she assured me cheerfully. "You're pre-approved in our system."

"Um, is my signature displayed on the screen in front of you?" I asked. "No." "My picture?" "No." "Then, um, how do you know that it's ME?" She stared at me blankly. "Suppose somebody stole my checkbook," I prompted. "Could they bring it here and write $200 checks against my account without having to show ID?" Another blank stare. Then she chirped, "Well, from now on, I'll be sure to ask." I didn't see her keying in any special code on my account, so I'm guessing she just made that up.

Today I wrote a check for gas at British Petroleum. These guys make no bones about it - they don't WANT your check - they just want the checking account number, after which they blithely treat your account as if you had presented them with a debit card. They take a blank check and run it through a machine, then give it back to you with some stuff printed all over it. You don't sign the check at all, you just sign the receipt. As before, no ID was requested. I don't know what the signature is for, since they don't check it against anything.

I don't like this AT ALL. It was bad enough when someone with a stolen debit card could charge things against my checking account, but now they don't even need the debit card, just a check randomly pulled from the middle of a checkbook.

Comments

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

This is why I do as much as I can with cash. I use credit cards only when absolutely necessary. If cash is stolen, I know how much is gone, and that's the end of it. Also, I've notice I tend to be very protective of my folding money, and spend it more slowly.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I find it reassuring that the places where I regularly shop (Rainbow and Target) regularly check my ID - even though the checkout people must recognize me after all this time.