Chip and PIN on 98 per cent of UK tills

Chip and PIN has taken hold in UK shops with 98 per cent of all tills hosting the new tech one year on from the official change-over date.

More than 185 chip and PIN transactions take place every second, compared with 125 per second a year ago, according to payment body Apacs (Association for Payment Clearing Service).

Roughly 900,000 shop tills have been upgraded to chip and PIN - representing 98 per cent of all shop tills in the UK - an increase of more than 75,000 tills since the deadline for chip and PIN adoption on 14 February 2006, said Apacs.

But despite the tech's ubiquity, there is still some scepticism about its effectiveness in stamping out fraud. A recent report about a magnifying screen designed to shield chip and PIN devices from the prying eyes of shoulder surfers elicited an energetic response from silicon.com readers, who were 'unconvinced' it would improve chip and PIN security.

Chip and PIN has also been blamed for making ID theft easier by a leading criminologist - despite figures released by Apacs last year pointing towards a £60m drop in counterfeit card fraud in the first year since the payment system was introduced.

Apacs said it expects soon-to-be-released figures for 2006 to show a fall in the amount of money lost to card fraud too.

Still, some big retail names are yet to commit to chip and PIN, including cinema chain Odeon which does not currently use the system at any of its cinemas due to a 'negligible level of fraud' from face-to-face box office transactions.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, said the rollout of chip and PIN has been a tremendous success and, as a result, it is now far more difficult for fraudsters to get access to consumers' money.