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Electronic Signature Capture Pads Further Destroying Penmanship

FredRydr

By FredRydr
in The Write Stuff

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FredRydr Antique

FredRydr

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When I use a credit card at retailers, they invariable ask me to sign on a signature capture pad with an attached stylus. The results are awful, and cashiers don't care. I have given up trying to coax these devices to show something that looks anything like my true signature. The system used by the US post office is the worst, always failing to work across the entire pad, leaving gaps and looking nothing like what I wrote on the screen (which would be handy for denying the receipt of a certified letter that was "signed" for).

 

My electronic signature is slowly being reduced to... X

becca.gif

 

Fred

 

 

 

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Yaakova Rare

Yaakova

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I detest those things! I'm vain about my handwriting, and it's impossible to do my best penmanship. I always feel like I'm trying to write with one of those fat crayons they made us use in the first grade - the kind that were flat on one side so they wouldn't roll off the desk. (And I just dated myself ...)

"Don't be humble, you're not that great." Golda Meir

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NinthSphere Vintage

NinthSphere

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The best is when you have to use them at the DMV or somesuch. That way, you have a permanent record of the murder of your signature.

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I like mango cheesecake Vintage

I like mango cheesecake

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When I was asked to sign one of those one time I signed it as "God Almighty"

 

Another time I signed it as "Superman"

 

They didn't even check

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webgeckos Collectors Item

webgeckos

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I have no data to back this up, but I have been told a mumbled scrawl is harder to counterfeit than an elegant signature.

 

I had a beautiful signature, until I worked in Germany and had to sign about 200 pieces of paper a week. And always at the end of the day on a Friday. So I learned to scrawl. Also, my first name is 8 letters, my last name is 11 .. so a scrawl was attractive.

 

I still do that same scrawl when signing checks, but for everything else I write as if Sr Mary Margret is behind me with her 18" ruler :D

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nigelg Extremely Rare

nigelg

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Can we be far off from biometric signatures?

 

Probably not. The UK Post Office already charge an arm and a leg for postage. :D

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is a mystery.

Today is a gift.

That's why it's called the present

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Hayseed Brown NOS (New Old Stock)

Hayseed Brown

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Signatures don't really have to do with penmanship and handwriting. Or, at least, the effective ones shouldn't.

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Intellidepth Extremely Rare

Intellidepth

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Signatures can no longer be used for credit card transactions in Australia - at least with my bank. It's pin only. Got the letter from my bank just this week. They still suggest, if you like, that you sign the card 'for identification purposes only'. (Our credit cards can be used as additional proof of identity when applying for passports and such).

 

I need to try the Superman trick.

Noodler's Konrad Acrylics (normal+Da Luz custom flex) ~ Lamy AL-Stars/Vista F/M/1.1 ~ Handmade Barry Roberts Dayacom M ~ Waterman 32 1/2, F semi-flex nib ~ Conklin crescent, EF super-flex ~ Aikin Lambert dip pen EEF super-flex ~ Aikin Lambert dip pen semi-flex M ~ Jinhao X450s ~ Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Posting Nib ~ Sailor 1911 Profit 21k Rhodium F. Favourite inks: Iroshizuku blends, Noodler's CMYK blends.

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Fabienne Collectors Item

Fabienne

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I sign them "Napoleonfart" and I have learned how to be legible about it, too.


 It's for Yew!bastardchildlil.jpg

 

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Lorna Reed Collectors Item

Lorna Reed

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My problem with the darn things is that the stylus is always tethered at the right side, and I am left handed, so I'm trying to write a signature with the wire thing across the bit I'm supposed to be writing on.

I can sense the impatience of the delivery person standing there while I struggle with the thing.

I never knew they were called signature capture pads. It's not what I call them. :gaah:

Whatever is true,whatever is noble,whatever is right,whatever is pure,whatever is lovely,whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Philippians 4.8

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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What's even worse than the capture pads is that a lot of merchants are now using tablets and smartphones with systems like Square (we are probably going to have to go that route for my husband's sideline business). On those you don't even use a stylus for signatures -- you just write with your finger.

On top of horrid signatures, I wonder how sanitary those are in the long run....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Roseofsharon NOS (New Old Stock)

Roseofsharon

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On top of horrid signatures, I wonder how sanitary those are in the long run....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Trust me you do not want an answer to that!

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FredRydr Antique

FredRydr

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Posted (edited)

What's even worse than the capture pads is that a lot of merchants are now using tablets and smartphones with systems like Square (we are probably going to have to go that route for my husband's sideline business). On those you don't even use a stylus for signatures -- you just write with your finger.

 

Ironically, they are popular among vendors at the pen shows! When they ask for your finger, give it to 'em!

 

Fred

Edited by FredRydr
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Bookman Collectors Item

Bookman

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I actually like those finger-signature devices. My penmanship and signature with an FP are decent, maybe even better than that, but when I've finished a finger signature I typically wish my FP signature could be that good. As for the unhygienic aspect, thank goodness for those little bottles of hand-sanitizer. (I carry one at all times, just as I do an FP. I use it frequently when out and about, just as I do my FP. In fact I started the habit because I didn't like the idea of transferring other people's germs to my pen.)

 

fpn_1428165149__bookman-signature.jpg

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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