US credit card companies American Express , Visa and Visa have eliminated the need for signature authentication for purchases , with Visa also about to do the same . The move followed criticism that the new procedure slowed down checkouts and was not as secure as digital verification methods . The removal will be implemented differently by the various card providers , depending on country and retailer . Although the US companies began rolling out EMV chips in credit cards a few years ago , none of them have adopted the four - digit verification PIN used in Europe .
US credit card providers American Express, Mastercard and Discover have eliminated the need for signature authentication for purchases, with Visa also about to do the same. The move followed criticism that the identification procedure slowed down checkouts and was not as secure as digital verification methods. The removal will be implemented differently by the various card providers, depending on country and retailer. Although the US companies began rolling out EMV chips in credit cards a few years ago, none of them have adopted the four-digit verification PIN used in Europe.