Consumer uptake of online authentication schemes Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode has increased by 600 per cent in the past two years, according to the latest figures from UK payments association Apacs.

Despite slow initial interest, the 3D Secure scheme now boasts registration of more than 25 million UK debit and credit cards, up 150 per cent in the past 12 months from 10 million in August 2007.

"This is an important milestone as it means that more than half of all online shoppers have now registered their cards," said Sandra Quinn, director of corporate communications at Apacs, in a statement.

"The banking industry continues to urge those cardholders not yet signed up to do so, as we all need to play our part to make life harder for online shopping fraudsters."

However, the schemes have come in for criticism by industry experts in the past for being non-intuitive and therefore forcing shoppers to abandon transactions.

Others have commented that the technology is still vulnerable to manipulation by fraudsters.

"This should be viewed as one of the tools in your armoury to combat fraud," argued Tim Sparrow of fraud prevention firm CyberSource. "What we're seeing as a result of [its success] is a lot more identity theft, so criminals are signing up for credit cards on your behalf and possibly registering for the scheme."