Eric: Now, you’ll give the food instrument to Amber to sign. The signature at the store must occur at the store in front of you, the cashier, at the end of the transaction.

Vanessa: Her signature on the food instrument needs to match the signature on the ID folder, right? I saw Linda doing this.

Eric: Yes. It’s your responsibility to verify the ID of the WIC customer by matching one of the authorized signatures from their WIC identification to the signature on the food instrument.

Vanessa: Suppose it looks like the signature, but not exactly.

Eric: The signature at the store doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of the signature on the WIC identification. It must be the same first and last names (in that order) and have the same characteristics as the signature on their WIC identification.

Vanessa: What if the signatures don’t match?

Eric: If the signatures don’t match, the customer may re-sign it. There are two occasions when a WIC customer may resign. The first is when the signatures don’t match and the second is when the WIC customer gives you a food instrument that is already signed. You will draw a single line through the signature and have the customer re-sign inside the signature box (if it will fit) or to the left of the signature box. A customer can only re-sign once. If the food instrument is already signed, the customer will have to re-sign it when the transaction is complete. Remember, when a customer re-signs a food instrument, it must be the same name of the person who originally signed it. Even if the person who signed it the second time is on the ID folder or proxy form. Whoever signed it the first time must sign it the second time. If the signatures don’t match, they should be referred back to the WIC clinic for assistance.

Vanessa: Alrighty. About done with our check-out?

Eric: Not quite, – now you need to make sure WIC is either printed or hand-written on the top of the receipt and hand it to the customer.

One important thing to remember is that WIC food instruments are printed from a computer at the clinic – they’re NEVER hand written.