Chip and PIN

In the ever growing war on credit card fraud the latest weapon is Chip and PIN (personal identification number). Quite simply it means no longer signing a receipt slip or simply having your signature checked, it means punching a 4 number code into a keypad. This number is (or at least should) be known only to you and once entered into a retailers keypad it is not recorded in anyway. This reduces the current problems of having your card swiped and the details copied by unscrupulous retailers. As your PIN number is not recorded nobody can simply clone your information. UK credit cards that carry the international scheme card logos can be used abroad where the chip and PIN technology is in use. Where it is not available you will be asked for your signature just as you were before the new technology. The new technology does not remove the requirement for a signature on the reverse side of your credit card. Just as with your current cash machine PIN number you will be able to change it at an appropriate ATM. Your chip and PIN number and the one you use for ATM's will become the same number. Currently use of chip and PIN does not extend to mail order, telephone or internet purchases and you should not reveal it for those type of transactions. It should only ever be physically punched into a keypad by you and never given out in any other form. Entering the PIN incorrectly three times will lock the card from further use.
All this information making the use of chip and PIN a reality is held on your credit card in the small gold square you see on many types of cards today. However it is securely encrypted and would be too time consuming for anyone to actually try and unencrypt given the level of encryption currently possible. Even if this was attempted the probability is that the actual attempt to unencrypt would destroy the chip itself anyway.