Credit card customers in Australia are finally going to have the choice of either giving a signature or typing in their PIN number when they are out shopping.

The spokesperson for pen or PIN, Simon Greig feels this new choice will make it far earier to make purchases with a charge or credit card. "Australians are among the most prolific card users in the world, making more than 118 million card transactions per month,'' Mr Greig said.

"The introduction of PIN on credit and debit cards will give cardholders a quick and easy alternative to signature authorisation when making purchases in person.''

This rather useful change will be accessible to customers of American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa and takes effect from July 4th The change is set to occur on June 4 and will be available to all American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa customers, at more than 600,000 point of sale depots all over Australia.

This will bring the country up to date with several others, such as New Zealand, who have been using the system for almost seven years.