27 May 2005
Industry body APACS has announced that the 100 millionth chip-and-pin card was issued yesterday.
According to the group, since the cards were first issued in March 2003, 100 million had been sent out to 38 million cardholders.
The new chip-and-pin credit cards aim to reduce fraud by having customers verify a purchase by keying in a four-digit PIN rather than signing a receipt.
Chip-and-pin spokeswoman Sandra Quinn said: "Chip and PIN is now a way of life for everyone across the UK and cardholders are now expecting to use chip and PIN on a daily basis."
This is borne out by the news that more than 70 transactions were now verified using a pin every second.
Ms Quinn added that chip-and pin is also increasingly used abroad and consumers should be aware of this when travelling.
"It is not just in the UK that they will be asked for their PIN, so they must memorise their PIN before they go abroad this Bank Holiday as there is a growing chance that they will be asked to use it," she said.
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