None of the cards I have today have embossed numbers on them. Which I like as they don't leave an imprint on my wallet's leather. But to use one back in 1995 the clerk would have to hand-write all the numbers and expiration date[0] on the credit slip. A process that is fraught with error.

[0] After looking it up in the booklet of known bad cards that was mailed to the store, or calling their card processor's phone number to check.