Credit card signatures are about to become a thing of the past, with American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and Discover — the four major US credit card companies — set to do away with the requirement for signatures on in-store purchases in the coming days. 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 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 .