to wonder what the point was of introducing "chip and pin" if thieves can nick your card and swipe it without a password or pin?

[evilcherub]

I think it makes things easier for the banks but that's about it. Also, thieves can use special machines to "read" a card easily because of the new swipe technology.

And as to transferring the liability to the customer for fraud and so on, I think that's a dreadful idea. The people suggesting it claim it's because knowing that your losses are covered make people careless with their financial security. What they don't say is that the reverse argument applies - if the banks know that they don't have any liability for fraud, where's their incentive to spend money on providing decent security in the first place. I mean we all know how they just love investing in customer service!