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I think it was normal that you had to show ID that matched the card name, and compare the signatures too. Now the signatures are just a spot to draw something funny.

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In the 80s and 90s in the UK you just signed. The card imprint was embossed by the machine which put it onto the carbon, and that was sent off to the bank for payment later in the week, like cheques.

I last used a carbon credit card in the early 00s. Electronic swipe and sign for a credit card had gone pretty much everywhere I went except the US by about 2010

I was charmed to have my US credit card read by an imprinter at a corner shop in the UK, circa 2014.

I last used a carbon imprinter in the UK in 2013. We hired out car roof boxes / cycle carriers at a summer job I had.

I am not sure how valid it was, though they would take a deposit and a card imprint until we got the car accessories back.

My employer in the UK had a machine in around 2014, but it was only used for sales of their own products to employees.

It put all the transaction risk onto the employer, and had a high fee per-use, but since they only had these 'stock clearance' sales to employees once a year it was fine.

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