combating card fraud

[baratron]

There was a tiny article in today's Evening Standard which read as follows: Britain's biggest banks and retailers are clubbing together with a £1.1 billion scheme in a bid to curb plastic card fraud. ... All 100 million debit, credit and charge cards in Britain will be replaced in the next three years with new, more sophisticated versions. The cards will incorporate computer chips to make them more difficult to copy. Owners will also be required to pay for goods and services by tapping a PIN into a machine, rather than signing chits of paper.

It's nice to see the British banking industry moving into line with the rest of Europe, where chips have been routinely used in credit cards for at least the last 10 years.

In other news, the South West Trains strikes scheduled for next week are off. They might return at a later date if the talks fail.

Comments

[elfgeek.livejournal.com]

I already have chips in both my debit and credit card (co-op bank). But that's not really any use if someone steals it and uses it on the internet (3 years ago my then-flatmate's boyfriend stole the details of my credit card out of my room).

[redbird]

I wonder where this will leave wandering Americans. I managed to get to Cardiff airport in December and then discover that (a) my bank card was safely in New York, and (b) I don't know a PIN for my credit card. I had enough cash to get the bus to the railroad station, and the railroad was happy to let me charge an 8-pound single ticket to Swansea. No chips in the charge card I used, though. (Americans going to Europe are already warned to have four-digit PINS; some banks here use, or offer, six; but I can't just walk in and say "I need a chip in this card.)

[chrismoose.livejournal.com]

Anything to stop card fraud would be good thing.... Having had £3,000 of credit card fraud on my credit card bill last month, I back whatever positive steps they decided to make... :-)