We in the US have had no more credit card crime than the UK, I believe--and without a chip/PIN situation.   It's not clear that chip/PIN cuts down on fraud--unless the UK had a huge amount of fraud which has now sunk drastically.. It's just one more number to remember.   There are enough of those already--I'd rather remember song lyrics.

However, reading between the lines I deduce that my suspicion is correct:   fewer and fewer UK retailers are taking cards without chip/PIN---they will neither manually enter information nor swipe.

Jan tried to use a Visa just recently in the UK with no chip/PIN.   She was asked how the retailer would get its money.   Answer: it's a Visa.   No mystery. What a question.

However this thread has now told us what we need to know. We will make arrangements.