Credit and debit card fraud has fallen by almost a third since the introduction of chip and pin security, according to new figures.

Lost, stolen and counterfeit card fraud fell to £89.9m in the first six months of 2005, compared to £126.6m for the same period a year ago.

The Association of Payment Clearing Services (APACS) claims the drop in fraud is a result of the increasing use of chip and pin technology.

The Chip and Pin Programme announced on Monday that after Valentine's Day 2006 people with a chip and pin card will have to use their pin number in order to pay for goods at check-out tills.

Sandra Quinn of the Chip and Pin Programme, said: "This is the final phase of the successful chip and pin roll out.

"More than nine out of ten people have a chip and pin card and there are a hundred successful chip and pin transactions a second.

"Using chip and pin has already cut fraud -and now we want to close off even more opportunities for the fraudster.

Paul Smith, director, British Retail Consortium: "Our experience in shops shows that most people have taken to chip and pin like ducks to water."

"The vast majority of people are already successfully using PIN. 97 per cent of transactions on chip and pin debit cards and 89 per cent of transactions on chip and pin credit cards are already successfully verified by pin.

"This announcement is targeted at the minority of consumers who have chip and pin cards but are not yet using pin.

"There are four months left to ensure they find out, remember and use their pins. The best way to get ready is to start using pin now."

Recent consumer research shows that UK cardholders have overwhelmingly embraced chip and pin with 87 per cent finding the technology easy to use.

Research results among disabled people show that chip and pin is also very well accepted. Nearly 85 per cent of disabled people say they find chip and pin the same or easier than signing and 81 per cent say they like using the new way to pay.

Paul Smith, director of the British Retail Consortium, added: "Our experience in shops shows that most people have taken to chip and pin like ducks to water.

"They find it simple, quick and convenient. Now is the time to encourage those not using pin to get ready to do so by 14 February next year, so that we can drive even more fraud out of our shops."