Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

Missouri lawmaker proposes law requiring customers to show ID with mobile payments

A St. Louis lawmaker has introduced a measure that would require customers to show identification when they using a mobile wallet app.
By
January 26, 2015
Google Wallet card AA

A Missouri lawmaker is pushing for a law that would require a person to present identification every time that they use a mobile payment system on their phone or tablet.

Last Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Joshua Peters of St. Louis introduced a measure that would require a customer to show a state drivers license or other identification when they use a mobile wallet app or other electronic payment system. The measure also forces merchants to record the license or identification number or else the merchants would be responsible for illegal purchases.

Obviously, the goal of this measure is to slow down the likely increase in fraudulent transactions using Google Wallet or Apply Pay. But this comes off as an extreme over-reach for a new type of technology.

googlewallet2

One of the biggest advantages of using Google Wallet and Apple Pay is the ability to purchase items without pulling out a card to show retailers. If customers are forced to dig into their wallet to get their ID during a purchase, why wouldn’t they just use their credit cards?

I also can’t imagine businesses will be thrilled at the idea of having the full responsibility of maintaining additional customer information, in this case identification numbers, for every purchase in their store.