If you haven’t heard about Chip and Pin, you must have been living on another planet for the last few months and if you have heard about it and are still not quite sure about it then let me try and help both sets of groups out, by making it a little bit clearer, you never know though I might start writing this article and realise that I might need to learn more of it myself. I can hear you all now saying to yourself is there much point reading this? The answer to that is yes.

What is Chip and Pin?.......

Lets start with what Chip and Pin is, well it is a new system that has been brought in to replace the old signature an strip system, that has been an open market for fraud and the Chip and Pin will require a personal four digit number, that is only known by your good self, being punched into a machine rather than signing. This is hoped will see a decrease in fraud using, which cost in the region of £400 million last year. Though it will not cut it out completely, as card not present purchases will still be open to fraud.

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If you have not received your new Chip and Pin cards then contact your credit card issuer right away and ask when one is going to be sent out. Another good reason for calling your card company if you have not received it yet, is that if it is already been sent and you have not yet had it delivered to your home, then the chances are that it could have been intercepted by crooks, who are looking to gain ways of raking in cash that they are missing out on, with the old signing system. This will let the credit card issuer cancel these cards and supply you with new cards and pin.

If you have not got your Chip and Pin card yet then don’t worry as most retailers have still got the facility to let you sign as the new set up is only about a quarter of the way done. The only worry with this is that some retailers might be a little fussier than others when it comes to signing, as they are now liable for any fraud that occurs on signing for purchases that banks used to cover before the introduction of Chip and Pin.

Remember your PIN!.....

The only real problem that I think most of us will come across now and again, is trying to remember the actual Pin, as these numbers are now being put along side four digit numbers that we already have with our bank cards and debit cards. A suggestion to get around this is by asking yourself if there is a special date that you will never forget and use this as your number. Because don’t think that because the credit card company has issued you with a number you, don’t need to keep that specific one.

Be aware........

A word of warning though do not be tempted to use your credit card in an ATM, because you now have a Pin for it, because believe me you will get the shock of your life at the interest charged when you withdraw cash using your credit card it can be as much as 15% higher than using it to make a purchase. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!