Means you are always in sight of your card because although merchants can force the transaction through, customers expect the pin entry ritual. Skimming become

Means you are always in sight of your card because although merchants can force the transaction through, customers expect the pin entry ritual. Skimming becomes a lot more difficult and in most stores you don't even need your card to be near the cashier because the terminals are separate from the register. This also stops the frequently problem mentioned about a waiter changing your card because you'd need to validate the purchase via pin on a POS terminal. The downside is that you're vulnerable to shoulder surfing and people stealing your pin (at which point they really have the keys to the kingdom), but given that signature checks are rarely that stringent in the US I think it's a moot point. Magstripes still work, but many stores in the UK have stopped accepting it as a payment method if the card fails. I'm surprised to see no mention of NFC in this thing, that would work in Europe in plenty of stores.