Will chip-and-fingertip replace chip-and-PIN?

Visa is about to test credit cards with a biometric ID, your fingerprint, replacing the use of a secret PIN number to validate the sale.

Two tests are starting this month, using products from two different card-and-system suppliers. One will be tested with cards issued by the Bank of Cyprus, in Europe, and the other in the U.S. by Mountain America Credit Union.

Both systems will store customer fingerprints securely on the card's chip; if it doesn't match the image when the customer touches the sensor on the cardreader, a red light will go on and the sale will be cancelled.

While such a system would be a new step for most of the world, it would be a huge step for the U.S., where card-issuers have not required a PIN, only an unverified (and often illegible on small screens) signature. Both MasterCard and Visa have recently announced that they are discontinuing the signature requirement in any case.

None of these changes, however, address the area of credit card fraud that has grown as over-the-counter fraud has become more difficult: Online transactions (known as 'card-not-present') where there is no physical connection between the user and the system. Perhaps future phones and computers will come equipped with readers and sensors!