Jody Leidigh, vice president, Debit Cards, at PNC, says the bank was keen to implement the system in time for the holiday shoppping season.

She addss: "We believe this authentication practice will help protect PNC Bank customers from fraud and the unauthorised use of their cheque cards at the growing number of online retailers participating in the Verified programme."

More than 40 major online retailers support Verified by Visa and an additional 52 will soon offer it to consumers, says the card scheme.

PNC Bank customers can convert their existing cards to the Visa authentication programme by entering passwords online at the bank's Web site. As an additional measure against fraud, card users also create their own personal messages that are later displayed back to them for verification when they shop online.