Banks delay in sending out new cards

BANKS are failing to meet the deadline for the start of the new 'Chip and Pin' cards despite six years of preparation.

More than 50m of the new anti-fraud credit and debit cards have yet to be sent out before the 1 January official launch of the new system.

The new cards are meant to replace the traditional signature with a number punched into a key-pad at the till that must match up with data on a microchip. The delay means that one of the busiest shopping weeks of the year will be marred by confusion about which cards will be accepted.

Mike Naylor, an adviser to Which?, said: 'It has taken the industry a very long time to implement Chip and Pin. This has the potential to cause a lot of problems. You are going to have lots of people next week saying, 'I don't know my Pin number' or, 'I haven't got one yet'.'

The slowest banks are Barclays and HSBC, which have not sent out cards to about one in three of their customers. NatWest and Lloyds TSB said about one in five customers had still to receive their cards. There are concerns that some retailers will refuse to accept old-style plastic cards because they fear they will have to pay for any fraud.

Officially, banks will continue to pick up the bill, but lawyers said liability comes into a legal 'grey area' and some retailers will prefer not to take the risk.

However, a spokeswoman for Apacs, the banking trade body, insisted consumers have nothing to worry about.