Britons battling card PIN overload
Millions of Britons are suffering from PIN overload as they struggle to remember increasing numbers of the four-digit codes for credit or debit cards, according to a survey.
The average person has memorised at least two PINs, while an estimated six million consumers have learnt three different numbers and three million people have learnt four.
A further two million people say they are trying to remember at least five different numbers, according to high street bank Abbey.
Unsurprisingly 55% of people say they have recently forgotten one of their PINs, and 39% admit they have had to write down their numbers so that they do not forget them.
But while 23% of people say they have disguised their PIN, for example writing it down as if it was a phone number, 4% say they have taken no steps to conceal what it is. A further 6% of people even admitted they kept a record of their pins in their wallet with their cards.
Around 14% of people said they had avoided the problem of having to remember multiple PINs by having the same number for all their cards, despite the fact that this would make them vulnerable to fraud if their wallet was stolen.
Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey, said: “With many of us holding more and more pieces of plastic in our wallets the challenge of remembering all those PIN codes is getting greater.
“But we really do urge you to try and commit them to memory rather than write them down. Otherwise it’s like signing a blank cheque for fraudsters.”