February deadline for chip & Pin

By MICHAEL CLARKE
Updated: 05:47 EST, 10 October 2005

CONSUMERS will no longer be able to pay for goods with credit or debit cards without knowing their Pin number from February next year.

The banking industry and retailers have introduced the 14 February cut off point to mark the next stage of the chip & Pin project. After that date, if you can't remember your Pin number, the retailer will decline the transaction.

Apacs, the bank clearing association, claims that fraudulent use of lost, stolen or counterfeited plastic cards fell by nearly a third in the first half of the year and wants to lower that figure further next year.

In the six months to the end of June, card fraud cost banks £89m compared to £127m in the same period in 2004.

Apacs spokeswoman Sandra Quinn said: 'This is the final phase of the successful chip & Pin roll out. More than nine out of ten people have a chip & Pin card and there are a hundred successful transactions a second.'

The organisation said consumers are using their Pins on 97% of transactions using chip & Pin enabled debit cards and 89% of eligible credit cards.

Paul Smith, director of the British Retail Consortium, said: 'Our experience in shops shows that most people have taken to chip and Pin like ducks to water. They find it simple, quick and convenient.'

Apacs said disabled consumers will still be able to sign for goods if they retain their chip & signature card. Consumers will also be able to sign in retail outlets that have not yet signed up to the technology or if they still have old style cards.

The organisation will launch an awareness campaign to encourage cardholders that don't use or remember their Pin numbers to get involved. Quinn added: 'This announcement is targeted at the minority of consumers who have chip & Pin cards but are not yet using Pin.

'There are four months left to ensure they find out, remember and use their Pins. The best way to get ready is to start using Pin now.'