"Does This Still Make Sense?"

In Canada, your credit cards no longer require a signature panel on the back.

At one point in the not-so-distant past, the signature panel served an important purpose: after you swiped your credit card to make a purchase, you needed to sign the receipt to acknowledge and accept the charge. The person taking your payment would then check your signature against the signature on the back of the card to confirm the card belonged to you. It was a crude security system but it worked most of the time.

These days, however, the signature panel is unnecessary. Low-value transactions can be paid with a tap, and tap payments don't require you to confirm your identification. Higher-value transactions require you to enter your PIN code, and knowing the code confirms you are the true owner of the credit card and are authorized to make the purchase.

My VISA, Mastercard, and American Express have all expired within the past year, and each card has been replaced with a new one.

But only one of those card issuers bothered to remove the signature strip.

There are things you do because they make sense for your business.

And there are things you do because they used to make sense for your business and that's how you've always done them...

... but no one has bothered to stop and ask, "Does the way we do this still make sense?"

Things change.

Be prepared to adapt accordingly.