Barclays bank is issuing hand-held chip and pin card readers to online banking customers in a new anti-fraud initiative.
More than half a million customers who use their online account to set up payments to new third-party accounts will be sent free "pinsentry" card readers by the end of the year, the bank said.
The devices will allow customers to authenticate their identity with their debit card and pin instead of pass-codes and memorable words when they log on to Internet banking and again when they want to make certain payments.
Those who use online banking to view their accounts and pay bills or established payees will continue to use the service in the current way.
The news comes after Apacs, Britain's payments association, said it would trial the next generation of fraud prevention technology, designed to safeguard consumers when buying goods over the Internet, by telephone or mail order.
The pilot scheme will see banks issue hand-held credit card readers to each customer. When buying something remotely, consumers will place their card into the reader and type in their pin.