Showing ID When Paying With a Card

Do you have to hand over your driver's license when a merchant asks?

Think back to the last time you paid for something with a credit card. Did the merchant ask to see a photo ID? Did you hand it over or balk at the request?

Usually I'm glad when a merchant asks to see my driver's license because I had a credit card stolen from my wallet once. If merchants had asked to see the thief's ID when he used my card, maybe his spending spree would've been stopped quicker. Or maybe not.

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Cameron Huddleston
Former Online Editor, Kiplinger.com

Award-winning journalist, speaker, family finance expert, and author of Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk.

Cameron Huddleston wrote the daily "Kip Tips" column for Kiplinger.com. She joined Kiplinger in 2001 after graduating from American University with an MA in economic journalism.