You can choose the Pin that suits you

Anyone who has been on a booze cruise to Calais in the past 10 years may have noticed something odd at the supermarket checkouts in France.

Instead of signing a credit card slip as they pay for their groceries, French shoppers are asked to tap a Pin code into a small number pad.

UK'S NEW CHIP AND PIN SCHEME Launched Northampton Aimed at cutting fraud, such as card cloning Will become nationwide if successful trial How the Pin became mightier than the pen - and some of your responses

The system is designed to beat credit card criminals on the basis that it's easier to forge a signature than it is a secret four-digit number.

After the programme was launched in France 10 years ago, credit card fraud fell by 80%. A decade later, as the cost of fraud on this side of the Channel nudges ��bn a year, Britain has decided to follow suit.

In Northampton this week, shops and shoppers began to test an anti-fraud system which looks remarkably similar to the one used in France - and Spain, Austria, Hong Kong, and plenty of other countries.

In fact, BBC News Online readers from around the world e-mailed in their hundreds to say that "signing" a credit and debit card receipt with a Pin rather than a pen is, frankly, nothing new.

Others were surprised: "It has astounded me that banks and credit card companies in the UK have been so slow on getting this system rolled out," wrote Chris Sandford, from the Netherlands.

Some were angry. "Why, if the French and other countries introduced these types of measures 10 years ago, are we so lagging behind?" asked one user.

Global standard

Apacs, which represents the banks on such issues, defended Britain's late start. The particular version "Chip and Pin" being pioneered here will be a global standard - other countries are expected to fall in line with the UK.

Certainly, implementing a system such as this is not to be undertaken lightly - here it is expected to cost �1.1bn to install. But that starts to look like a bargain relative to the amount lost on credit card fraud.

Between 1991 and 2001, plastic card fraud losses more than doubled to �411m a year, although the amount lost compared to that spent on cards almost halved in the time.

"Compared to the money they are making [on plastic cards], the amount in losses is still small. Credit card companies have been prepared to swallow that for some time," says Mike Naylor of the Consumers' Association.

Consumer pays

And while the banks, not the individuals, eventually stump up the money on fraudulent transactions, ultimately the consumer foots the bill, says Mr Naylor.

"They pay through the high interest rates; through charges on cash advances and quirky payment charges."

There's an emotional cost as well, says Stuart Cliffe of the National Association of Banking and Insurance customers.

Chip and pin at the drive-through

"There's the heartache, aggravation and stress of finding that a stranger is spending your money. It can take several weeks to get that money back and you are without a credit card and without access to the funds you've lost."

There have been some attempts to cut fraud. Many cards are already issued with microchips, which makes them harder to clone, and safeguards are used when sending new cards through the post.

But other simple ideas, like adding a picture of the cardholder to a card, or their fingerprint, have not taken off here.

To most customers, the new anti-fraud measures, which are expected to radically reduce card cloning and theft, cannot come soon enough.

"The banks are fond of saying that the UK is the home of banking; a global financial centre," says Mr Cliffe, "but they've been caught dragging their feet on this one."