Chip and pin has proved a hit with shoppers and retailers but it could be two more years before its impact on fraud is known, its organisers said yesterday.

New research on the electronic transactions system was revealed yesterday, a year on from the start of its pilot scheme in Northampton.

Chip and Pin was launched last summer in a drive to replace signatures as proof of cardholders' identities.

Without the new system, say the programme's bosses, card fraud in the UK was set to rise from £402 million in 2003/2004 to an estimated £800 million in 2005.

Thursday September 16, 2004