The changes will not affect online purchases, but will apply to all transactions over a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.
According to Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, the spokeswoman for the payments industrys PINwise campaign, cited by online media outlet ZD Net, all Australian cardholders will need to know their credit and debit card PINs by August 2014.
In addition, Australian Retailers Association spokesman Russell Zimmerman has mentioned that the phasing out of signature verification is aimed at helping protect consumers and retailers alike from fraudsters. Statistics show that Australian credit card fraud runs to about USD 81 million per year, most of it on credit cards where it isnt necessary to enter a PIN.
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