Leisure retailer JJB Sports is giving customers access to credit card payments that cut the risk of fraud.

All 447 of its stores will be upgraded to accept payment from ?chip and pin? cards.

Chip and Pin cards require users to type in their four-digit security code on a special keypad out of sight of cashiers, rather than signing their name on a receipt.

Many shops are keen to install the technology because of a change in the law due in January next year, when retailers become liable for the cost of fraudulent credit card transactions.

Mark Macaulay, IT director at JJB said: ?If you go into a High Street store with a stolen card and grab loads of kit, the damage can be massive. We take the hit.?

Macaulay said there were other benefits for consumers, as the technology processes tranascations much quicker, cutting time spent waiting in queues at the till. He said card authorisations went through in six seconds, rather than the 15 seconds taken over the normal telephone network.

JJB has updated 34 stores in the Northwest, and plan to upgrade stores in the Midlands next, then Scotland. ?We want it all embedded in time for Christmas as December is our busiest month,? said Macaulay.