American Express and MasterCard are quietly killing one of the most annoying things about buying things in stores

Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

• MasterCard, Discover, and American Express have all announced that soon customers will not be required to sign receipts at check out.
• Signatures are no long a necessary safety measure, according to executives.
• The change will take place in April 2018.

In 2018, major credit card companies including MasterCard, Discover, and American Express will no longer require customers to sign their receipts.

On Monday, American Express became the latest company to announce that it will stop requiring card members to sign receipts, beginning in April 2018. Previously, the company forced merchants to require all shoppers to sign for all transactions when checking out.

With the rise of online shopping and new tech like EMV chips in credit cards, signatures have become less necessary as a safety measure, American Express said in a press release.

In October, MasterCard announced that it would similarly stop requiring customers' signatures as of April 2018. And, Discover made a similar announcement last week.

At this point, The Verge reports, Visa is the only major credit card company that has not yet announced plans to kill the annoying - and increasingly unnecessary - signature requirement in 2018.

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