Credit and debit cards as we know them will be signed off on Valentine's Day. Jane Hall reports. ********* Liz Williams is unlikely to be impressed if boyfriend Euan Underwood fails to buy her a Valentine's Day gift. But unless he can remember his credit card chip and Pin number, that is the fate that could await his 24-year-old girlfriend from Stocksfield, Northumberland, who works in advertising. For the most romantic day of the year also marks the official start of Britain's new chip and Pin payment system. From February 14 you will no longer be able to sign for goods and services in shops and restaurants if using a chip and Pin card. Instead you will have to know your four digit Pin number. Unfortunately, Euan, 33, from Gateshead, has never been able to remember his credit card number - and he has just two weeks to track it down. The designer with a large Newcastle-based firm admits he should have made efforts to do so before now. While millions of people are walking around in ignorance of the Valentine's Day deadline for the introduction of chip and Pin technology, Euan was alerted at Christmas. "It was a shop assistant who told me," he says. "I couldn't remember my credit card number and had to sign for the purchase. As he was handing back my credit card slip he said, `You won't be able to do that after February 14.' "I didn't know until then that a final cut-off date for using a signature had been set." Luckily Euan does possess a debit card whose number he can recall - for the moment. "I won't starve," he jokes. "But I don't know how amused Liz will be if I have to tell her I couldn't get a Valentine's Day gift because I have forgotten my Pin number. "Forgetting your number is a bit of a worry." With people owning an average of three or four credit and debit cards, there are concerns that many will have difficulty remembering several numbers. But unless you want to be left red-faced at the till, remembering will not be an option. As Richard Mason, director of credit cards at price comparison website moneysupemarket.com, says: "Up until now, consumers had the luxury of choosing to use their signature or inserting their Pin. This choice is no longer available. From February 14, if you have a chip then you will have to Pin. "It is essential cardholders know their Pin or be faced with the embarrassment of being turned away." Chip and Pin technology began to be rolled out across the UK last year following a successful three-month trial in Northampton in 2003 to test how the system worked. By the end of the trial more than 200,000 Pin-enabled credit and debit cards had been issued and around 1,000 outlets, including shops, restaurants, pubs, hotels and petrol stations took part. It is hoped the system - being hailed as the biggest change in the way we pay since decimalisation - will help tackle fraud and cut down on card crime, which costs the banks hundreds of millions of pounds a year. It involves not just technology changes, but also a change in the payment behaviour of 42 million cardholders and 1.5 million retail staff. The massive programme spearheaded by the UK retail and banking industries has seen more than 850,000 point-of-sale terminals, 122 million cards and 40,000 cash machines upgraded. Each card contains a microchip that stores data more securely than the magnetic strip and signature which has been used since 1972, and is therefore much harder for criminals to clone or skim. As well as reducing the chance of cards being used fraudulently, in the long run this should have other benefits, as the cost of fraud is ultimately passed on to consumers. Early signs would suggest chip and Pin is having some success in this area. Last October, figures from the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs), which is co-ordinating the roll-out of chip and Pin, showed that fraud involving the stealing and counterfeiting of cards had fallen 29% during the previous 12 months from £126.6m to £89.9m. Richard Mason, of moneysupermarket.com, says: "Chip and Pin has helped reduce credit card fraud and it is vital this initiative is not hindered by consumers who cannot remember their Pin. "Beware attempting to remember your Pin by inputting incorrect numbers, which could mean you risk your Pin being locked. "We would advise anyone who does not know their Pin to contact their card provider today or change their Pin at a cash machine to one that is easy to remember." But while high street counterfeit card activities have decreased, the number of fraudulent card-not-present (CNP) transactions is rising. According to fraud detection specialists Retail Decisions (ReD), attempted CNP deception through mediums such as mail order, interactive television and the internet increased by 6% in the final quarter of 2005 compared to the same period the year before. Activity was particularly strong in the run-up to Christmas - a peak time of year for retail websites. ReD says fraudsters often target sites at the busiest times when purchase volumes are up in the hope they will be camouflaged. Credit card fraud on the net isn't addressed by chip and pin - nor, in fairness, was it meant to. Richard Mason says: "With more people shopping online, this seems the next obvious target for fraudsters. Therefore, customers would be well advised to make sure they keep card details as secure as possible by transacting over secure sites. "It is also advised that a credit card is used where possible for internet purchases as customers are more likely to be compensated if any fraudulent activity takes place." Card fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes. In the UK £504.8m of fraud was committed on cards in 2004. Those behind chip and Pin claim if the system was not introduced UK losses would now be running in the region of £800m and would have reached a staggering £1bn by the end of the decade. Clearly, if this were allowed to happen, the survival of the card payments system could be in jeopardy. Euan Underwood is in favour of the move away from signatures to Pins. "I believe it will cut down on fraud as criminals won't be able to forge your signature and it will be much harder to get your Pin number," he says. "Having said that, these sort of criminals are very clever. I do wonder how long it will take them to override the new measures." Page 2: Never tell anyone your Pin number | 
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