>>Is Chip and PIN really shaping up? jeremy wyman, business systems manager, safeway
Some people have questioned whether chip and PIN might be an attempt at closer European integration through the back door. After all the French have been using chip and PIN for 10 years and here in the UK we are facing up to the challenge in our usual British way - a mixture of entrepreneurial spirit coloured with centuries of practice.
Safeway, along with other retailers and banks, has now reached the end of a trial in Northampton and the industry can look forward to less than 16 months before the start of the widespread use of PINs by British retailers.
The history of this activity stretches back to 1997 when a trial was mooted in Northampton and Dumfries. Little did many of us involved in those early trials realise the difficulties that would be faced. Difficulties that are founded in specifications and testing regimes rather than that of customer acceptance.
Observation by retailers on continental holidays cemented the view that chip and PIN would be the largest change to hit retailers since decimalisation and we would need to be quick off the block. Monitoring and redrafting of our business case meant that we raced off as soon as the present trial in Northampton was agreed and have just completed the trial with eight of our stores participating - we now can look forward to the national rollout, which for us will be complete by this Christmas.
It’s easy to misjudge the ability of the British customer in accepting change. Our first customers to use the system needed no explanation other than which way to insert the card in to the reader. Yes, they had seen the French use them, could comment on Australian habits and, in most cases, know of people who had suffered at the hands of fraudsters who prey upon the retailer forced to check squiggles that pass for signatures.
An obvious question was whether the system would be too difficult. For the first time, we retailers came together to discuss the finer points of shaving seconds from till processing times, with larger retailers worried about the impact of fractions of a second on queue length. The retailers with customer service ethics that demand customers be addressed by name, pondered over how to smoothly acquire the name when the card does not leave the customers hand. We are also confident that we cope
well with a small minority of customers who object on religious grounds to this change, and we can take it in our stride.
One consideration is whether the retailers should take the cost of the change? Early thoughts were that increased queue lengths coupled with customer dissatisfaction would make the move to PIN totally unacceptable - however. this view is far off the mark. Our transaction times are quicker and there is no fumbling to sign a small shiny piece of paper with pens that have seen better times. A considered look at all the costs involved reveals the savings open to the retailer and makes the change an attractive one.
But are all retailers taking life at the same pace? The largest of the high street names have signed up and have taken part in the
trials with relative ease, as they are able to leverage their considerable resources. The small retailer with a smaller investment is able to use the services of their bank to support the change.
The challenge remains for the mid-range retailer, too large to rely on the banks to take their commercial decisions but too large for the change to happen overnight. It is this population that needs to start getting involved.
Interestingly, the French who pioneered a similar technology to Chip and PIN are now moving to the same standard that we are adopting and are visiting
But as the UK trial closes and we have made the transition to a PIN-based system, our European neighbours must look on and smile as we catch up.
Some people have questioned whether chip and PIN might be an attempt at closer European integration through the back door. After all the French have been using chip and PIN for 10 years and here in the UK we are facing up to the challenge in our usual British way - a mixture of entrepreneurial spirit coloured with centuries of practice.
Safeway, along with other retailers and banks, has now reached the end of a trial in Northampton and the industry can look forward to less than 16 months before the start of the widespread use of PINs by British retailers.
The history of this activity stretches back to 1997 when a trial was mooted in Northampton and Dumfries. Little did many of us involved in those early trials realise the difficulties that would be faced. Difficulties that are founded in specifications and testing regimes rather than that of customer acceptance.
Observation by retailers on continental holidays cemented the view that chip and PIN would be the largest change to hit retailers since decimalisation and we would need to be quick off the block. Monitoring and redrafting of our business case meant that we raced off as soon as the present trial in Northampton was agreed and have just completed the trial with eight of our stores participating - we now can look forward to the national rollout, which for us will be complete by this Christmas.
It’s easy to misjudge the ability of the British customer in accepting change. Our first customers to use the system needed no explanation other than which way to insert the card in to the reader. Yes, they had seen the French use them, could comment on Australian habits and, in most cases, know of people who had suffered at the hands of fraudsters who prey upon the retailer forced to check squiggles that pass for signatures.
An obvious question was whether the system would be too difficult. For the first time, we retailers came together to discuss the finer points of shaving seconds from till processing times, with larger retailers worried about the impact of fractions of a second on queue length. The retailers with customer service ethics that demand customers be addressed by name, pondered over how to smoothly acquire the name when the card does not leave the customers hand. We are also confident that we cope
well with a small minority of customers who object on religious grounds to this change, and we can take it in our stride.
One consideration is whether the retailers should take the cost of the change? Early thoughts were that increased queue lengths coupled with customer dissatisfaction would make the move to PIN totally unacceptable - however. this view is far off the mark. Our transaction times are quicker and there is no fumbling to sign a small shiny piece of paper with pens that have seen better times. A considered look at all the costs involved reveals the savings open to the retailer and makes the change an attractive one.
But are all retailers taking life at the same pace? The largest of the high street names have signed up and have taken part in the
trials with relative ease, as they are able to leverage their considerable resources. The small retailer with a smaller investment is able to use the services of their bank to support the change.
The challenge remains for the mid-range retailer, too large to rely on the banks to take their commercial decisions but too large for the change to happen overnight. It is this population that needs to start getting involved.
Interestingly, the French who pioneered a similar technology to Chip and PIN are now moving to the same standard that we are adopting and are visiting
But as the UK trial closes and we have made the transition to a PIN-based system, our European neighbours must look on and smile as we catch up.
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