Ignorance rife over Chip & PIN

Nearly 90 per cent of small and mid-sized UK retailers are unaware that from 2005 they may have to foot the bill for some of Europe's highest fraud.

While 73 per cent of managers of 300 retail and hospitality SMEs - taking in businesses with up to 500 employees - said they were concerned about credit card fraud, 69 per cent had not heard about Chip and PIN technology, according to a survey conducted for IBM.

Retailers who do not comply with Chip and PIN face paying the cost of fraudulent transactions from 2005. According to the Association for Payment Clearing Services, losses on cards have risen 53 per cent, to almost£430 million, in the past two years.