The chip and PIN advisory group hit back this week at continuing claims that it had failed to take into account the specific needs of the hospitality industry.

A spokeswoman for the Chip and PIN Programme said that contrary to reports from operators, hand-held terminals were widely available either to hire from banks or sold privately.

In response to concerns over using chip and PIN for hotel check-in, she said: "For hotels using bank-leased terminals, all customers are asked to PIN for an agreed

	Chip and PIN: still causing confusion

preauthorised amount on check-in and are then asked to re-PIN for the final bill at checkout."

The shift in responsibility for any losses incurred by fraud - which also caused confusion when it changed at the start of January - means that the onus is now on the party which hasn't upgraded, be it the bank or the business.

About 76.8 million chip-and-PIN cards have already been sent to 36 million cardholders in the UK, and the remaining customers will receive their new cards when the old ones expire.

The advisory group also argued that considerable effort had been spent trying to accommodate the hospitality sector. Measures included steering committees with hospitality representatives, workshops, making hospitality-specific recommendations, exhibiting and speaking at industry events, as well as ensuring catering operations were involved in the 2003 trial.

Despite the advisory group's protestations, the HCIMA also lent its support to demands for more sector-specific consideration, loudly aired at the Hospitality Show last week.

A spokeswoman said: "There remains a lack of clarity, and we have to make sure this works for businesses financially, logistically, for staff and for customers."

She added: "There's clearly confusion out there. People are still asking about gratuities, online hotel bookings, training costs, implementation, support, upgradeability and cost of hardware.


Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 3 February 2005