Personal Identification Number

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What Does Personal Identification Number Mean?

A personal identification number (PIN) is a secure alphanumeric or numeric code used for authenticated access to a system. A PIN serves as a validation tool for users of various types of networks and systems, such as computer networks, credit/debit cards, and mobile phones. PINs are used across multiple sectors, including banking, payment processing, and communications.

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The PIN provides security when a credit/debit card is lost or stolen because the PIN must be known prior to making money withdrawal.

Techopedia Explains Personal Identification Number

The PIN provides the following benefits:

  • Provides accessibility to multiple types of network systems and websites.
  • Facilitates information privacy management, while preventing unauthorized access due to lost credit/debit cards or usernames/passwords.

PINs are assigned to users for secure authentication. For example, a user presents a credit/debit card for payment and enters a PIN number to complete the transaction. If the user enters an invalid PIN, he or she is allowed a limited number of authentication attempts. Vendors and banks may confiscate credit/debit cards when a valid PIN is not provided within a certain number of attempts.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.