FT.com: Shoppers to test PIN-code cards

Jane Croft reports on the UK's upcoming test of PIN's to replace signatures for credit card transactions.

The system, dubbed "chip and pin", will see Pin codes securely stored on a microchip embedded in the credit or debit cards. Customers will type in their Pin on a number pad by the till and hacker- proof technology will compare it with the Pin on the card. The system is designed to end Britain's position as the card fraud capital of Europe by replicating the low fraud losses of France, which uses an early version of chip and pin. It will also make theft of cards pointless because the card will not be usable in Britain without the secret Pin code - even if the thief can forge the signature on the back.