UK consumers could soon be using chip-and-Pin cards and
card readers to make online payments more secure under an option
being investigated by UK banks.
Card-holders would slot their chip-enabled cards into a small card
reader and type in their Pin using the keypad on the device.
The reader would generate a unique number for the card-holder to
enter onto the website to verify that they are the valid
card-holder. Card readers could also be slotted into PCs.
The card readers would offer an extra level of security for
internet banking, in addition to passwords and follow-up questions
to verify the card-holder's identity, said Dick Clark, of Consult
Hyperion, an IT consultancy which has developed a technical
standard for authenticating card reader payments for banking
association Apacs.
In the long term, card readers could be used for a wide variety of
payments although any services will have to wait until 2005 when
the UK's £1.1bn chip-and-Pin project is rolled out nationwide.
Planning for chip and Pin >>