Chip and PaIN

Chip and PIN has been with us since 2004. So why is it I feel no more secure than I did before? And keep having wierd point-of-sale incidents?

I've been having this chat with several people recently: whereas when C&P came in waiters would casually glance away while you punched in the digits, these days many of them brazenly watch your every move.

Then on holiday last week I had the ultimate mockery of the added security that the technology is supposed to provide. In a Swedish supermarket, the cashier wanted to see personal ID, as the PIN alone wasn't enough for a foreign cardholder. The manager came over, glanced at my driving licence and asked "Is your date of birth DATE MAY YEAR?"

"Yes, because I am agreeing with what you are reading off my card," I said while the groceries were bagged.

Chip and PIN can clearly be far more secure than scrawled signatures on bits of paper. But it is a sticking plaster until better technology is applied to securing transactions.

Until then, I'll keep hunching my shoulders and holding the machine at strange angles.