Putting your card behind the bar will become a thing of the past on 14 February - PIN day - when the chip-and-PIN roll-out will be complete throughout the UK. Customers will then be required to pre-authorise tabs at the bar.

Bar staff will key in an agreed tab limit, which customers will approve with their PIN. If the limit is exceeded, the procedure is repeated.

Connie Penn of Kilrush Consultancy said: "People have become uncomfortable with leaving a card behind the bar."

www.chipandpin.co.uk

www.kilrusheft.com

By Chris Druce

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