Can the bank issue bank cards not showing full name

bootman

If you have a 2 word surname does you bank have to put this on your cards? for example if you name was Smith Jones would it be allowed just to print Smith?

My son only goes by the first bit of his surname, school only know him as this as well and always has.

He has just opened up a halifax cashcard a/c. He is only 11 and they say he has to have his full name printed.

I used to work in a bank many moons ago and we used to allow people to choose how they want cards and cheque books printed.

Surely as long as they have identified him correctly it should not matter?

He is going to go mad if he has to sign a big long surname.

Many thanks

littlefeet_2

I think there's some flexibility on the name going onto the cards, I have a long double barreled surname, so they have problems fitting it all in along with Ms (didn't even have enough space for Mrs and I wanted something to distinguish between my cards and BigFeet's). So I have some cards with only half of my double barrel. The main reason I've found for not doing a shortened version of my name is if I have to provide additional ID to go with the card (for example when using it in Spain) it will not match the shortened version.

rb10

Even if his card says Mr Smith-Jones, he can still sign it just as Smith.

Rose123

He can sign whatever he likes no matter what the card says, my signature has a completely different surname to whats on my card

If you have a really nice advisor in the bank, if she wanted to she could most probably put whatever on the card, it might just be an issue if he gets older (say 18) and wants to take out a mobile phone contract and they need a card for ID

Extant

There could be a technical reason for it - i.e. cardholder not present transactions and the way the bank verifies them.

But as said before, his signature doesn't have to match his name, as it's just a signature - as long as the bank has a copy of that signature and that signature is on the card, it shouldn't matter if it's his name or a smiley face, really.