Mastercard and Visa are to ask consumers to give more information when using their credit cards over the telephone, internet or by post in a new attempt to cut fraud.

The measures are designed to re-assure customers that it is safe to order goods over the web - a major deterrent to the growth of internet commerce.

From next April, all Mastercard customers and UK users of Visa cards will have to give the three-digit number printed on the card's signature strip whenever they do not sign a receipt.

UK Mastercard and Visa users will also be required to give their house number and postcode before any transaction can be authorised.

The card expiry date - already asked for in non-signature transactions - will continue to be requested.

Mastercard and Visa said security improvements to internet transactions - currently accounting for less than 1% of total business - would also be introduced.

Fraud rise

The additional security measures, already in place in the US, are aimed at combating credit card fraud, which has continued to rise in recent years.

In a statement, Visa said that fraud associated with use of its cards worldwide stood at less than 10 cents for every $100 of transaction volume.

In the EU, Visa card fraud was the equivalent of less than five cents in every $100.

In the UK, total debit and credit card fraud reached �189m last year, of which �30m was attributable to card-not-present transactions.

More adventurous UK

"The UK has been more adventurous in the way it has developed new businesses than elsewhere in Europe," said Paul Lucraft, UK deputy general manager of Europay, the European arm of Mastercard.

This had made it more susceptible to credit card fraud, he said.

Visa said the new measures were intended as an interim measure before the planned introduction of chip technology by 2005.

It said this provided "by far the highest level of payment security available today".