Besides, people keep stealing the pens

Earlier this year, banks in the UK rolled out a plan called "Chip and PIN", which is intended to reduce payment-card fraud. Customers are issued "smart" cards with an embedded chip and a four-digit number, and instead of signing the slip at the point of purchase, they must enter that number directly into the terminal.

Since most US-issued cards lack the chip — only two of my cards are so equipped — some American travelers are encountering problems at UK stores. Cards lacking the chip should still be accepted with a signature, according to the proponents, but evidently not all merchants have gotten the message.

Full rollout was 14 February 2006: in the year before, the pilot program produced a 24-percent reduction in fraudulent transactions.

Posted at 11:32 AM to Common Cents