6.6 Personal Identification Number (PIN)

A personal identification number (PIN) is a number made up of several digits (usually four) given to you by your credit (or debit) card provider so that you can identify yourself as the rightful owner of the card when using it in chip and PIN machines or at cash points (ATMs).

When you get sent a new credit card for a new account, you will also be sent your PIN number for that card. However, you will not receive your PIN in the same envelope as your card; it will be sent to you separately. This is to reduce the risk of fraudulent use should the card get lost or stolen in the mailing process.

The PIN number sent to you will be randomly generated by a computer; it will not be kept on your account record so will therefore not be visible to anyone, not even to staff members of the issuer.

You can change this number at cash points by putting your new card into the machine, entering in the PIN you were originally sent and then choosing the ‘change PIN’ option. You will then need to enter in a new four digit number which you can easily remember, but is not easy to guess by someone else (1234 would probably be too obvious!).

When your credit card expires you will receive a new card in the post automatically, but your PIN will likely stay the same. The letter which comes with the card will tell you whether this is the case or not.

If you report your card lost or stolen, your old card will be cancelled and you will be issued with a new one. If you think that the confidentiality of your PIN has not been compromised, i.e. you are positive that there is no way that anyone else knows it, your PIN for the new card will be the same as for the old one. However, if you think someone now also knows your PIN, then you will be issued with a new one.

The same applies even if your card isn’t lost or stolen; if you think someone knows your PIN tell your card issuer immediately and ask them to send you a new one.

Since the introduction of the ‘Chip and PIN’ system in 2006, the PIN has become even more important to the world of credit and debit cards.

Before the ‘Chip and PIN’ system was introduced, your PIN was only required to access your funds through your card when put into a cash point. In shops, the customer’s card would be ‘swiped’ and the information relating to their account would be accessed by the merchant via the magnetic strip on the back of their card. The customer would then have to replicate their signature also found on the back of the card.

The problem with this system was the opportunity for fraudsters to steal/find a card and forge the signature to make illegitimate purchases in the cardholder’s name.

The introduction of the ‘chip and PIN’ system meant that the card, if found/stolen would not be as easy to use in fraudulent circumstances because the fraudster would not have the cardholder’s PIN, and could therefore not use the card to make purchases in shops.

As a result, the ‘chip and PIN’ system now means that the PIN is probably the one piece of information that can truly be kept a secret from fraudsters, but only if the cardholder treats their PIN with the respect it deserves.

Card issuers advise consumers not to keep their PIN with their cards or divulge it to anyone; NOT EVEN BANK STAFF. The only person that should ever know your PIN is you. They also advise that you do not use any part of your date of birth as your PIN and that you shouldn’t use the same PIN for all of your cards.

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