Fears have been raised that shoppers with a disability will find themselves at a disadvantage when using new chip and pin cards.

People with a visual impairment, or other disability, may not be able to take advantage of the new technology, which requires shoppers to input pin numbers on a keypad.

Jan Stewart, who is blind, wanted to highlight the issue after researching how she would use her bank account with the chip and pin system.

At the moment, Mrs Stewart, who lives at Sandside, near Milnthorpe, is able to sign for purchases when she uses her Switch card. Her husband, Ian, is authorised to withdraw cash for her from a cash machine using the same card.

Her disability means that Mrs Stewart will not be able to use the chip and pin system. When she began exploring the alternatives, staff at her bank told her she would be issued with a chip and signature card that would allow her to continue to sign for her goods.

However, this card would not be usable at a cash machine, which would make it difficult for her to withdraw cash from her bank account. It would not be possible to issue two cards one chip and signature and one for cash till use for the same account, she was told.

Mrs Stewart asked how she should withdraw cash: "I said then what happens if I want cash with a new signature card?

"They suggested I would either have to come into the branch, or the other suggestion was go into a retailers that gives cash back and buy something whether I want it or not, and get £50 cash back.

"What happens if I want £200? Do I have to go to four different shops?"

Mrs Stewart said that staff at a second bank had also only been able to offer the limited chip and signature card. However, a third bank said it could provide a dual-use card that could be used at a cash machine as well as for chip and signature.

Mrs Stewart said banks should be doing more to highlight these issues to their customers.

She was also concerned that some shoppers, and shops, wrongly believed that stores that had already upgraded to chip and pin could no longer accept signatures.

Royal National Institute of the Blind spokesman Bill Alker said the charity was concerned that banks were not supplying chip and signature cards quickly enough, and were not able to tell some customers when they would receive their cards. If someone was being offered a bank card with fewer functions, the RNIB would consider that "inexcusable". Anyone with concerns can call the RNIB helpline on 0845-7669999.

Spokeswoman for the Chip and Pin Organisation Sandra Quinn said that of 15 bank and credit card companies, the "vast majority" could offer the dual-use cards, and that only three or four could not. The industry did not want customers to experience any loss of service. She said customers should check with their own banks about what arrangements they were putting in place.

Ms Quinn also confirmed that currently, if a shopper had a chip and pin card but did not know his or her pin number, the shop should continue to accept a signature.

More information is available at www.chipandpin.co.uk where there is also a page where customers can fill in the details of any shops which are refusing their signatures. The organisation is happy to take up these cases.