The Grimsby-based printer, which produces a range of commercial print, including letterheads and business cards, incurred £2,000 in losses to bad debt during 2007.

Before the introduction of the Cardsave-supplied chip and pin machine, one-off jobs would leave the company at risk of losing out if customers failed to pick up work or paid with bounced cheques.

GSB director Damian Holden said the amounts were often small but the business would have to chase payments, and in many cases, would never recoup the monies owed.

He said: "Since taking on the Cardsave-supplied terminal, we have been amazed at how much we have used it and surprised that many of our larger clients prefer to pay in this way, so our cashflow has improved too."

In a recent piece of market research, Cardsave discovered that much of the one-off print work was derived from business startups printing letterheads, invoices and other collateral, often finding its way to medium-sized print shops with a high street presence.

The company surveyed 150 of these across the UK, 30% of which did not have chip and print terminals installed.

Cardsave claims its chip and pin services are more economical than those offered by banks, as it gets preferential rates by bulk buying.

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