Making a purchase with a bank card will require the use of a PIN number.
From this weekend, people who use chip and pin cards will have to use their PIN numbers to pay for purchases. It is all part of the move towards a cashless society.
As consumer culture moves from cash to plastic, there's a new way to pay.
From St Patrick's Day on 17 March, all consumers using chip and pin payment cards will need to use their PIN to make a purchase. The system is designed to beat fraud and transactions can be rejected by the card issuer if the personal identification number is not used.
Una Dillon of the Irish Payment Services Organisation says that if you do not know your PIN, then a transaction could be declined. Credit and debit card fraud dropped by 12 per cent in Northern Ireland last year following the introduction of the new payment system.
94 per cent of credit and debit cards in Ireland are now chip and pin and almost all retailers are prepared to implement the changeover to the new system. So too are most shoppers.
For those who do not have a chip and pin card, they will still need to sign for purchases. However, it is envisaged that one day credit cards will be a thing of the past to be replaced by multi-functional ID cards.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 16 March 2007. The reporter is Gareth O'Connor.
