BOLTON Police have welcomed the introduction of new chip and PIN bank cards which are designed to reduce fraud.

Under the scheme, consumers will verify a transaction by keying in a four-digit personal number into a special swipe machine rather than signing a slip. The new bank and credit cards will also have a smart chip which can store information more securely than a magnetic strip.

Currently, thieves can use stolen cards easily by simply copying the signature.

By using a PIN known only to the card holder, it will be harder for criminals to fraudulently pay for goods. The system is already running in some European countries.

Swipe machines have already started appearing in some shops but it is likely to be two years before the new system has been installed fully by banks and credit card companies.

The initiative is expected to reduce credit and debit card fraud in the UK - which was £424.6 million during 2002 - by up to 70 per cent.

Payments with debit cards look set to rise further following the introduction of the new cards, as the use of cash and cheques continues to decline.

Det Con Barry Coombes from Bolton Police said he welcomed the new system.

"It will cut down on fraud but obviously it will be another two years before we are start to see the full benefit.

"Anyone can steal a card and copy the signature. It will be more difficult for them to use the new cards because they won't know the PIN.

"It will be a personal number known only to the card user, and they will be able to change it to a number they can easily remember."