Feature in Moneywise today:
Deal of the week: The mobile-based current account from Monzo
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One of the most striking and simplest security features is visible as soon as you get the card – it doesn’t have your name on it. When you think about it, that’s a great idea. You know your name, but any would-be fraudster that finds your card will struggle to use it online without that key information.
Interesting, I’m not sure that security was the primary motivation for leaving names off cards (I thought that quick dispatch to new users was) but that’s a good point.
Nice title Saveen 
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I thought AVS, CV2 and 3D Secure were the key checks when using a card online and name was less important?
Cheers Alex, someone on this forum came up with this great newspaper emoji idea
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I’m not sure how important the name is tbh. Maybe the author was being a little generous there 
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When they have full current accounts with proper debit cards I would only use it as my primary account if the cards display account holders names due to problems with hotels and car rental when name not on card
The name is just passed on to the issuer to confirm. Most will only look if the transaction is suspicious and I believe right now, Monzo outright ignores it. You could write literally anything in the name field and have it accepted. Let’s also ignore that most cards are lost inside wallets with other cards or a form of ID, even if that ID is just something like a named Railcard.
The reason names are not on cards is because they’re produced in large batches and shipped to Monzo HQ before being put in to envelopes or handed out in person.
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Fair enough, it’s probably best to carry on that conversation here so that we don’t end up repeating ourselves 
The name isn’t passed actually. Banks would check it if they could, and the merchants would prefer that they did, but they can’t.
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Hmm, I have had declines due to wildly inaccurate names on another card but I otherwise have nowhere to check that.
I guess the question this raises is why bother collecting the billing name at all in many cases? Looking at PKPaymentRequest in Apple Pay, names are not provided by default and must be specifically requested as part of a PKContact. 
I believe Amex are able to check names, but my understanding is that Visa/MasterCard do not have this capability.
Then on the AVS checks, all they check is the numbers - not the letters.
True. AVS is not fail-safe on its own as a fraudster could enter a false address with matching building number + postcode numbers if they have access to Royal Mail’s PAF (Postcode Address File®).