MasterCard customers won’t need to search for a pen anymore when they make purchases with the credit card.

The credit card giant MasterCard is making it official, eliminating the need to sign for purchases made on the card at retail, as of April. Whether to sign or not will now be an optional decision for merchants in the US and Canada.

Major credit card companies Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover are eliminating the need for shoppers to sign receipts for credit and debit sales beginning April 14.

That means most merchants in the U.S. or Canada can decide whether or not to require signatures. Some merchants have already ditched signatures for some purchases, but beginning in two weeks the credit card companies are collectively ending requirements for customers’ autographs.

Eliminating the need for signature is another step in the digital evolution of payments and payment security,” says Linda Kirkpatrick, executive vice-president of MasterCard’s U.S. market development division.

“With the advent of new security, we can create a more consistent shopping experience that excludes signature.”
Within weeks of Mastercard’s announced plans last year, Discover, American Express and Visa also got on board to end the requirement of a signature.

“This important step will improve the customer experience and eliminate inefficient, ineffective, and costly processes for the retail merchant community and their customers,” said Laura Townsend, the senior vice-president of operations for the Merchant Advisory Group, a consortium of retailers interested in new ways of payments.

MasterCard says that some 80% of retail transactions made through the card currently don’t require signatures