Cardholder’s photo on credit card

This is a message to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in case none of the highly paid officials there has come up with this no-brainer of an idea: to require banks to issue only credit cards with recent photos of the cardholders! This is really no cutting-edge technology. It’s been routinely done for a long time by issuers of identification cards, driver’s licenses, etc.

It’s Christmas time and shopping is once again going out of control. With reports coming out almost on a daily basis about credit card thefts and the facility with which thieves are able to use them, the pictures embedded in the cards should serve as the cardholders’ first line of defense against such scammers.

What was originally thought as a deterrent against unlawful use is no longer reliable. The signatures shown on the card are so easy to copy, duh! And the presumption that cashiers of establishments where purchases are made via credit cards are competent to detect forgeries is just insane!

—HENRICO H. LACEDA, ricoh_lace@yahoo.com.ph