The first chip and PIN transactions in the UK have taken place in Northampton at pubs, restaurants, hotels and retailers.
The transactions are part of a trial that will see 150,000 of the town's residents inputting a four-digit number, or PIN (personal identification number), each time they make a credit card purchase instead of signing a receipt, in a bid to cut card fraud.
A similar system is already in place on the Continent, and UK consumers will find the process similar to the one they follow to withdraw money from high-street cash machines.
The system is expected to be in full operation by 2005, at which time the cost of fraud will shift from the card companies to the operator. This means that businesses which aren't prepared for the new system with upgrades to their tills or hand-held units will have to cover the cost of fraudulent card use.
With the cost of credit fraud estimated at more than £400m in 2001, inaction by the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), which represents the banking industry, could have meant fraud of £800m by 2005.
The chip and PIN system contains two improved security features. The first is a microchip, which stores personal details more securely than the current magnetic slip.
The second is the secret PIN number, which is harder to crack than signatures are to forge.
By Chris Druce