After 14 February 2006, you must use your PIN to be sure you can pay with your chip and PIN card. Allowing signature on chip and PIN cards gives fraudsters a window of opportunity between the time they steal a card and the time the owner reports it lost or stolen, during which time they can claim they dont know the PIN and forge the signature. By getting all shoppers to use their PINs on chip and PIN cards we will prevent this from happening.

Of course, we recognise that using a PIN may be more difficult than signing for some customers, and if you are unable to use chip and PIN due to a disability you should speak to your card company who will provide you with an alternative such as a chip and signature card.

With the introduction of chip and PIN there is no change in liability for the cardholder. Consumers remain fully protected from the cost of card fraud and are covered under The Banking Code. From 1 January 2005 there was a shift in liability for some types of card fraud from banks to retailers, but this does not affect cardholders in any way.

If businesses have chip and PIN terminals in store, they are covered from the cost of card fraud whether people enter their PIN or their signature, just so long as staff follow the on-screen prompts and carry out the routine checks ensure cards have not already been reported lost or stolen.

Banks will continue to be liable for the cost of card fraud committed on old-style non-chip and PIN cards, so by accepting them no business is putting itself at risk in any way.

There will always be some exceptions to the rule all shops and other card-accepting businesses will still accept signatures from three groups of people: cardholders who have been issued with chip and signature cards because of an impairment, visitors from overseas where they have not yet rolled out chip and PIN and, until their upgrade, customers in the UK with old-style cards. In addition, there will be some shops and outlets that have not yet upgraded to chip and PIN. All cardholders will continue to sign in these retailers.

For cards that have yet to be upgraded to chip and PIN, cardholders need not worry as they will still be able to sign after 14 February 2006 until their old cards are replaced.

With the introduction of chip and PIN there is no change in liability for the cardholder. Consumers remain fully protected from the cost of card fraud and are covered under The Banking Code. From 1 January 2005 there was a shift in liability for some types of card fraud from banks to retailers, but this will not affect cardholders in any way.

If businesses have chip and PIN terminals in store, they are covered for the cost of card fraud whether customers enter their PIN or their signature, just so long as staff follow the on-screen prompts and carry out the routine checks to ensure cards have not already been reported lost or stolen.

Banks will continue to be liable for the cost of card fraud committed on old-style non-chip and PIN cards, so by accepting them businesses are not putting themselves at risk in any way