Chip and Pin

Chip and PIN is a more secure way for you to use your credit and debit cards. It combines two effective security features. The first is a microchip on cards that stores card data more securely than a magnetic stripe and is therefore much harder to counterfeit (clone) or skim. The second is the four-digit PIN (personal identification number) that is much harder to use fraudulently than it is to copy a signature and proves that you are the genuine cardholder. Instead of using your signature to verify payments, you are asked to enter a four-digit PIN known only to you.

In early 2003 the first public chip and PIN trial was conducted in Northampton, followed by the start of the national roll-out in October of the same year.

Since the beginning of 2005 the majority of card transactions in the UK have been by chip and PIN. The roll-out continued through 2005 with the remaining chip and PIN credit and debit cards being issued, and businesses and retailers continuing to upgrade their equipment and implementing chip and PIN in their stores. By 2006, the UK was close to being a fully mature chip and PIN market.

Background to the introduction of chip and PIN:

Since 1995 the banking industry has been working to develop an enduring solution to plastic card fraud and the banking and retailing industries have joined forces to implement a PIN verification system that uses the power of highly secure chip cards.

This fraud-fighting programme meant that, from 2005, the vast majority of face-to-face UK credit and debit card transactions were authorised by the customer keying in their PIN (personal identification number) rather than by signing a receipt.

Using this better method of identifying the cardholder combined with the chip's ability to verify that a card is authentic has drastically improved card security.

The UK's first chip and PIN transaction took place during 2003 with a public trial in Northampton and then a full national rollout began.

For more information on chip and PIN please view the website www.chipandpin.co.uk