§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received since 1 January calling for all credit cards to carry photographs of the holder; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JackI have been asked to reply.
As far as I am aware, only one such representation has been received within this period, from the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown).
Putting laser-engraved photographs on credit cards was recommended by a recent Home Office study on the prevention of cheque and credit card fraud—crime prevention unit paper 26—and I understand that this is one of the fraud prevention measures being considered by the card payments industry, alongside other forms of cardholder identification such as personal identity numbers, finger-scanners and digitised signatures.