CVM (cardholder verification method)
How a transaction confirms the person paying is entitled to the card: a PIN, a signature, the phone's own biometric, or nothing at all below a contactless threshold. Which one applies is decided by the card, the terminal and the amount together, not by the merchant — which is why the same card sometimes asks for a PIN and sometimes does not.
Why it matters to a merchant
Worth explaining to counter staff once, because it removes an entire category of unnecessary conversation. Whether a customer is asked for a PIN is not something the shop chose and not a sign that anything is wrong; it is decided by the card, the terminal and the amount together. Staff who know that stop apologising for it.
Related terms
In this section: At the counter