Requiring ID is against the rules of every major card network; so are things like adding surcharges, and having minimum transaction amounts. Think about it, anything that adds friction to using a card makes it more likely you might use cash, eating into the card network's revenues. Anything that does that is likely to be frowned upon or prohibited.
> The card brands explicitly train merchants to check signatures against government-issued ID.
When the card is unsigned. Every card I have is marked "NOT VALID UNLESS SIGNED". It absolutely is a merchant violation to demand government issued ID when presented with a valid signed card. A card signed "SEE ID" is clearly not valid.
As far as you're other points, the US is not the only legal jurisdiction or market in the world.
It is a violation to make ID a condition of accepting Visa at all. It is not a violation to ask for ID from specific customers, regardless of whether the card is signed or not. It says this very clearly in the "Card Acceptance Guidelines for Visa Merchants" booklet. The closest they get to forbidding it is a recommendation that you don't make it part of your standard procedure as, and I quote, "it can slow down a sale and annoy the customer".
In the case of a suspicious transaction, the merchant is also supposed to call Visa for a "Code 10 Authorization". One of the things Visa may do is instruct you to check the customer's ID.
If a store asks you for your ID, calling up Visa to report a violation won't do you any good as they haven't violated anything. As far as your jurisdiction punt, we're talking about a product intended (and only really usable) for the US.
OK, but what says merchants are required to accept this "coin" card as your Visa?
Even if they aren't allowed to check ID, they certainly are allowed to check signatures.
Since merchants are held at least partially responsible for fraud, I would be surprised if most merchants accept the "coin" card. It doesn't look like a normal credit card.
> OK, but what says merchants are required to accept this "coin" card as your Visa?
Nothing. Coin is not an authentic card. BTW that wasn't my point, it was that it's a merchant violation to demand ID when presented with an authentic signed card.
On all of my cards I have not signed them but written "REQUEST ID" instead. And yet I very, very rarely get asked for my ID when using them. So rarely, in fact, that I make a point to thank them when they do. Some even turn it over to look and then just move on.
