The technology, developed by Visa, MasterCard and Europay, uses
a smartcard containing a chip to store the cardholder's details.
When an item is purchased the card is swiped through the retailer's
card reader and the transaction authorised by means of a PIN
(Personal Identification Number) rather than a signature.
Research, carried out for Visa by analysts TNS, suggests that
people in the UK will have no problem adopting new chip and PIN
payment technology when it is rolled out nationally later this
year.
The system is already underway in Northampton where 600
retailers are "switched on" to chip and PIN and over 181,500 chip
and PIN cards have been issued by participating banks.
The research shows that using a PIN is now just a part of
everyday life for most people, with only 4% of UK consumers are not
yet at ease with remembering and using a four digit PIN.
The research also found that 29% of UK consumers have no problem
remembering a range of different four-digit PINs for most purposes
in everyday life. In fact, on average each of us have three PINs
committed to memory for day-to-day use, such as withdrawing cash
from ATMs, setting a burglar alarm or a security code on a mobile
phone.
The new chip and PIN payment system is flexible and geared to
making it easy for consumers to choose a four digit number that
suits them. In future, once consumers have been allocated a four
digit number by their bank they will have the opportunity to change
it to something more memorable at any Visa-branded ATM.
Remembering PINs is not quite the burden that many people think
it is. Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed were quite happy to
memorise and use the number they were sent by their bank and 21% of
people used a memorable series of PINs. Only 6% of people said they
forget the PIN they are issued.
