§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Home Office regarding methods of addressing credit card fraud; and if his Department is taking steps to reduce the level of crime in this area. [80736]
§ Ruth KellyHM Treasury works closely with the Home Office, DTI and other Government Departments on a wide range of issues relating to financial crime. Recent government initiatives to reduce the incidence of credit card fraud include the pilot of a dedicated police unit to combat cheque and plastic crime. The banking industry has also committed to introducing chip cards for authentication of credit and debit transactions by 2005, together with a cardholder verification system using a personal identification number (PIN).