the logic of the credit card industry

[waider]

The Chip and PIN scheme, which began in October 2003, is designed to make credit and debit card purchases more secure by asking the majority of consumers to enter a four-digit PIN code instead of signing to verify card transactions by 2005.

So it's easier to forge someone's signature (even badly, given how infrequently my signature gets checked) than it is to type in a PIN code?

Comments

[tongodeon.livejournal.com]

Forgery isn't the issue: verification is the issue. It's harder to forge someone's signature, but how do they know that's what my signature looks like, even if they were inclined to check?

4-digit PINs are not just easier to verify - they're easier for a machine than for an underpaid bored lazy clerk to verify, which makes a PIN a lot more secure in practice.