American Express Co. on Monday became the third of the four major U.S. card brands to announce it will cease requiring signatures for transactions made with its cards at the point of sale beginning in April 2018.
AmEx says its rule change applies to all point-of-sale purchase transactions globally, a first among the card brands. In October, Mastercard Inc. was the first to say signature as a cardholder verification method would be optional beginning next April for U.S. and Canadian POS transactions. And last week, Discover Financial Services said its signature requirement would end in April for transactions made in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. AmEx says consumers may still sign at the point of sale if a merchant asks them to and if an applicable law requires that action.