For a while now, I've been trying not to use my credit card while out and about because I'm not doing a name change, and I hate to out myself at a restaurant using my card with my female name.  Sitting and having dinner and passing just fine, then paying at the end with a card with my female name on it when the bill comes, not fun!

Suddenly I realized, I could add myself with my male name as an "authorized user" to my account. It literally took me 2 minutes just now to add myself as an authorized user and they will send the card with my male name in 7 business days!

It actually took longer to type out this post than it did to ask for this card?! Will this work? I never get asked to show a license or something when I use my card. Any thoughts on if I can actually get away with this??

Thanks and hope everyone is well!

Never thought of that before, either. I've been asked for my license when using a debit card before. Just be careful.

Good luck!  I think you'll have a better chance getting away with it these days because people (at least near me) aren't as strict about checking your license anymore.  I think mainly because so many people have bank cards now that some people find it an annoyance. 

I did the same the same thing not using my card when out and about.  I did change my name though and right after I got my paperwork one of my 1st stops was going to my bank and getting my new card, haha.  Now I'm back to using it all of the time. 

It will work. I know a few people who have done this, just keep the original with you, just in case.

Quote from: Andy on March 25, 2012, 04:07:29 PM
For a while now, I've been trying not to use my credit card while out and about because I'm not doing a name change, and I hate to out myself at a restaurant using my card with my female name.  Sitting and having dinner and passing just fine, then paying at the end with a card with my female name on it when the bill comes, not fun!

Suddenly I realized, I could add myself with my male name as an "authorized user" to my account. It literally took me 2 minutes just now to add myself as an authorized user and they will send the card with my male name in 7 business days!

It actually took longer to type out this post than it did to ask for this card?! Will this work? I never get asked to show a license or something when I use my card. Any thoughts on if I can actually get away with this??

Thanks and hope everyone is well!

I can see it now. Someone does call you on it and they call the cops since you don't have a legal name change and then you get arrested or it becomes a major scene and then you explain and then they feel they owe yo a great apology and give you a free meal .. 

Thanks, guys....this is making my mind run wild with possibilities! Ordering stuff online with the correct name...not having to out myself when I take my gf to a hotel...

Who'da thunk?!

I check a person's ID all of the time when they're using a credit card.  This is to protect the person from someone stealing.  So, if you came in with your card with your legal name on it, I would card you and be OK if you showed me the ID that matches the card.  If you handed me a credit card that had the name you want to go by on, I would card you but I would deny the usage of the card because the name on your ID would not match that have the card.

It doesn't matter if the chosen name is an authorized user.  If it is not on the card and you do not have ID to match it, I would deny usage of that card.  This is because of the fraud that abounds, especially since a lot of cashiers, waiters, etc. don't check ID.

If you were using a debit card and used it as debit, I wouldn't care because you need the PIN to use a debit card (unless you're using it as a credit and then I would card you).

You may run into that problem down the road.  Someone may want to see the ID that goes with the card and if you do not have a legal document (usually a driver's license, state issued license, military license, passport, or legal resident license) that has the name and your picture, then you may be denied usage of that card so you would have to show your legal documents anyway.

Edit:

@ Paul:  I have annoyed people by asking for their ID and always get the line of, "Well, no one else asks for it!", but I don't give a rat's bum.  It is fairly easy to get a card in someone's name and then use that card all of the time without getting caught for a long while because people aren't checking the ID.  I'd rather have an annoyed customer than have a customer call up where I work and say someone used their card without knowing.  I would get in trouble, along with possibly getting fired, and then the company would get in trouble.  This goes for just about any company, honestly, but most people just don't check even though they're told that they need to check the ID.

It is for the good of the customer -- to keep someone from using their money.

(If that sounds harsh at all, I'm sorry.  I just really dislike the lax attitude towards checking ID, even to the point of asking the cashier if they want to see my ID if I'm running a card as credit.)

I'm confused...here we don't ask for ID unless the signature a person provides doesn't match the one on the card. That's not laziness either, that's in the standard training for every company; no one teaches you to check ID every time a person uses a card.

Sorry Guys,

We girls have been doing that for decades. 'It's my Dad's. husband' whatever card account. No ID needed, my signature (Cindy) is on it. You just apply for one for you and one for a family member. Just remember the signature for each card.

I hope it works for you I always pay in cash (for now). I have only used my bank card once and that was because I was $2 short for something I really needed!

@ Bane:  We don't check the signature though we do see it.  This is because signatures can change a little over time.  The person has to also sign something on the computer, but it's not required for purchases under $25 so we are required to check the ID and card to make sure the names are the same.  I don't make the rules of my company, I just play by them. 

My signature on the back of my card differs greatly from the ones on the screen, but it's because the pens for the screens don't necessarily work properly.  I also have "CID" written in big capital letters next to my signature because of this and because signature are easy to forge especially if someone had taken out a credit card in your name, signed it, and then signs the computer.  We wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't you if we just went by the signature.

The company wants to protect its customers and itself so we check the ID in case of fraud or if someone does not have permission to use that card (i.e. stole it).  Like I said, signatures are easy to forge.

Really? I've done customer service for credit cards before, and any added user needed a date of birth and social security number attached to it. I haven't been able to change my credit cards in that way either.

Quote from: thefire on March 26, 2012, 01:53:24 PM
Really? I've done customer service for credit cards before, and any added user needed a date of birth and social security number attached to it. I haven't been able to change my credit cards in that way either.

It's not changing the info. Your credit card is sitill in your legal name, you're just getting a secondary.

Well I ran a register for a few years, the only times I ever asked for id was if they wanted beer or if they were paying by check because we write thier drivers license number on the check. For us we didn't have time to ID everyone, but years before it had been policy to do so.

In any case that is a good idea I hadn't thought of, thanks for the idea

Quote from: Lynn Gabriel on March 25, 2012, 07:02:52 PM
@ Paul:  I have annoyed people by asking for their ID and always get the line of, "Well, no one else asks for it!", but I don't give a rat's bum.  It is fairly easy to get a card in someone's name and then use that card all of the time without getting caught for a long while because people aren't checking the ID.  I'd rather have an annoyed customer than have a customer call up where I work and say someone used their card without knowing.  I would get in trouble, along with possibly getting fired, and then the company would get in trouble.  This goes for just about any company, honestly, but most people just don't check even though they're told that they need to check the ID.

I used to do the same thing when I worked at Subway (even during the lunch/dinner rush) and a huge tourist attraction (even on the busiest days).  Other staff and some people waiting in line used to get so pissed, but trust me, the people I ID'ed were very grateful. 

Quote from: Paul on March 26, 2012, 05:58:53 PM
I used to do the same thing when I worked at Subway (even during the lunch/dinner rush) and a huge tourist attraction (even on the busiest days).  Other staff and some people waiting in line used to get so pissed, but trust me, the people I ID'ed were very grateful.

Oh, yeah.  I've had a lot of people smile and sigh with relief when I ask for their ID along with comments of, "Thank you for asking.  I wish more people would check the ID."  I even had a lady come in today who had approximately $1000 wiped from her account due to someone using her card/getting a card in her name and then not being carded and she was so happy to have her ID checked even though she was in a bit of rush.  It makes my day, though, to get a customer that's happy with what I do. 

I've had a few people get pissed off because I checked their ID and I've had people get pissed when I told them I couldn't process it as credit because their name wasn't on the card (my policy and the policy of K-Mart).  I had one guy say, "If I spent $25 at Dollar General, I wouldn't be carded." My response was something along the lines of, "This isn't Dollar General" and that it was for his protection.  -shrug-  I say let them get mad.  I'm just making sure sure they're not taken advantage of (and that my company can't be sued because of me).