I have been trying to research the requirement for additional cardholder identification for cardholders with UK-issued credit cards using POS terminals in Canada and the USA. I have sometimes been asked for additional identification in Canada, but never
in the USA. In the USA my signature is seldom checked thoroughly. I haven't been able to find any indication of additional identification being recommended in Canada, either by MasterCard, Visa, merchant acquirers (such as Moneris) or the retail industry.
I suspect individual retailers are doing this on their own initiative. If anyone has more information, or can point me to the people who know, I'd be grateful.