Chip and PIN rollout '95 per cent complete'

Chip and PIN has become a familiar fixture when paying for goods at most UK high-street retail outlets but one in 20 point-of-sale tills has yet to be upgraded

There are around 900,000 face-to-face point-of-sale terminals across the UK and 860,000 - 95 per cent - have been upgraded to chip and PIN, according to payment industry body Apacs.

The banking industry is claiming chip and PIN as a success pointing to the statistics that show counterfeit card fraud has been cut by £60m - a drop of 24 per cent - in the first year since the system was introduced.

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Valentine's Day this year marked the day when retailers who accept payment by credit and debit card with a signature rather than a PIN number became liable for any loss if the transaction proves to be fraudulent.

Many of the point-of-sale terminals still to be upgraded belong to small businesses but there are still some big retail names yet to commit to chip and PIN, such as cinema chain Odeon.

A spokeswoman for Odeon said the company currently does not use chip and PIN at any of its cinemas.

She said: "This is due to the negligible level of fraud reported resulting from face-to-face box office transactions."

But the spokeswoman added Odeon is in negotiations about installing chip and PIN, and is selecting a supplier for the service with the aim of introducing it with new systems that will be put in next summer.

A spokesman for Apacs said it is not compulsory for any retailer to install chip and PIN.

He said: "It is a business decision for each shop to consider. If a shop does not see any fraud going through its tills it may not see the need, at this moment in time, to upgrade."

But he warned they could become targets for fraud as criminals find it increasingly difficult to use stolen or counterfeit cards at stores with chip and PIN.