On Thu, 19 Oct 1995 Jueneman(_at_)gte(_dot_)com wrote:
I'm not sure that the cc number was being used as a _guarantee_ for the
check,
although I suppose it might have been. Rather, the somewhat vague hope of the
merchants was that if someone had a credit card, he or she was probably good
for the check, and if it bounced, the merchant might be able to get the
consumer's name and address from the card association. This is the reason why
I don't believe that. I'm sure that 99.9% of the merchant intended to try to
put through a charge to the card if the check bounced. Thus is was being
used as a guarantee, even if not a very solid one.
merchants now record your drivers license number on the check -- I doubt that
they expect the DMV to make good on the amount!
Actually, the real reason was probably a legitimate desire by card
associations
to deprive the merchants of a free credit check, thereby forcing them to go
to
check approving systems who would charge a percentage of the transaction that
would be similar to that charged by the card associations.
It has not had that effect because merchants are still explicity permited
to require you to have a credit card and to show it to them.
Bob
Robert R. Jueneman
GTE Laboratories
1-617-466-2820 Office
1-508-264-0485 Telecommuting
Donald
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