Signatures - what should they do?

alexandicity

hello!

I recently opened a new current account with Natwest. My 6th with them, in fact. This time, they asked me out of the blue to provide a signature specimen as I asked for my first chequebook.

Problem is, I don't really have a signature. On the few documents I've needed to sign properly, I've just written my name. has worked so far, but isn't very "secure".

Between this an upcoming house purchase and a new passport, I want to invent a new signature for myself, and as a geek I want it to be technically robust. My penmanship is awful and despite trying I can't get a consistent elaborate squiggly one like everyone else seems to use.

Signatures as I see it have one purpose: to prove you uniquely saw and consented to something. It should be hard for others to replicate.

I was thinking of using a doodle or some manner of graphical representation. Inside that graphic would be a subtle feature that might be missed by someone trying to copy it (like a flick or something that looks accidental).

Has anyone had experiences with non-traditional signatures? Can you think of any reason any entity might not like a small doodle instead of a squiggle? Are there any usage of safety issues I've missed?

Thanks!

innovate

Google is your friend.

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Personalized-Signature

alexandicity

Hi Innovate - yes, it most certainly is Seen this article and others like it. However, few seem to deal with the topic of graphics as a signature - ones that have no relation or resemblance to my name whatsoever...

meer53

A signature should be something you can sign without thinking. Not something you "create" which takes you 5 minutes to replicate when the chip and pin machine fails to work at the checkout. Just sign your name !

BASFORDLAD

Mine is just a massive scrawl.

I suppose people hardly sign things these days !!!!

Gromitt

meer53 wrote: »

Just sign your name !

My signature started off being my name, but gradually over time I got less and less patient with it, and now it looks more like a name/doodle/squiggle hybrid :d I think it looks unique, so thats good enough to me.

The only problem I had was when renewing my driving license and I had to keep within the (small) box, then I had to concentrate, but I think thats quite common.

James

Here is the easy and secure way to protect your signature. Not to prove you are who you say your are. But to prevent fraud and stop someone pretending to be you.

Check out this link (click here).

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

innovate wrote: »

Google is your friend.

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Personalized-Signature

Thank gooooodness for google. I really do not know how I have coped with mine for the last thirty years plus without knowing that!

inmypocketnottheirs

There is no way you could decipher my name from my signature. On the other hand - literally - ask my wife to write her name then sign underneath, it's exactly the same. What is the point??

chris1

Gromitt wrote: »

My signature started off being my name, but gradually over time I got less and less patient with it, and now it looks more like a name/doodle/squiggle hybrid

This happened to my friend - all was well, signing cheques regularly, until he wrote a large cheque - the bank decided to bounce it as they said the signature was not the same as the one when he opened the account 30 years before!