MasterCard Canada executive Oliver Manahan said the chip being added to the cards will serve as a state-of-the-art security upgrade that requires a personalized identification number to authorize purchases, The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Saturday.

"We know fraud is like a balloon, you squeeze in one place and it bulges in another," the vice president for advanced payments said.

The enhanced credit and debit cards will require a PIN rather than a signature in all purchases, leaving less opportunity for thieves to illegally use others' cards.

Manahan said in addition to the chip-impregnated cards, a new computer reader is being introduced that can enhance security for any online transactions.

"It then generates a one-time-only PIN or password, which validates the transaction," he told the newspaper of the reader's abilities. "The advantage is, if it's a fraudulent site, they may have got the card number but they don't have another usable PIN."