Do Credit Cards Have PINs?

A credit card PIN, also known as a personal identification number, is a four-digit number that allows you to verify your identity and prove that you are the authorized cardholder. Typically, you’ll be prompted to create a PIN when you sign up for a credit card, but in some cases, the credit card issuer may assign you one.

While most credit card purchases will not require a PIN, there are some situations where you may need one. In this article, we’ll look at the purpose of a credit card PIN, how to set it up, and its importance in helping to safeguard your financial information.

Credit cards typically do have PINs. But they are not usually required for most transactions. However, credit card PINs do play an important role in certain situations, as they can help to verify that you are indeed the cardholder.

You can use your credit card for most purchases without needing a PIN. This is the case whether you’re making purchases in-person or online.

For in-person transactions, you’ll typically have different ways of paying with your card. These may include making a contactless payment by tapping your card, inserting the card’s chip into the card reader, or swiping your card’s magnetic stripe.

Likewise, when making purchases with your credit card online, you will not be asked for your card’s PIN. You will, however, be prompted to enter your card verification value (CVV) number: the three or sometimes four-digit code located on the back or front of your card.

Most credit card purchases don’t require the use of a PIN. However, you may need one when opting to make a cash advance or when making purchases in certain stores when traveling abroad.¹

Remember your PIN because you never know when you might need it. You don’t want to be caught unprepared, particularly if traveling far from home. In Europe, especially, some credit card machines may only work with chip cards, and they may require a PIN to complete a transaction. If you don’t know yours, you may have to use an alternate payment method.²

You’ll typically receive your PIN in the mail If the credit card company issues it to you, so check any mail that your credit card issuer may have sent you when you first opened your credit card. Some card issuers ask the cardholder to create a PIN when they activate their credit card. And if you’ve just received your credit card, read the credit card contract and user instructions carefully when you receive them. Each credit card company has its own set of procedures and fraud protection measures in place.

When creating a PIN, avoid using numbers easily guessed by credit card thieves such as your birth month and year or consecutive repeating numbers (1111, for example). They’re easy for you to remember but also easy for someone else to guess. It’s a safer option to choose a PIN number at random, but make sure it’s a number combination you can still remember.

A credit card PIN can be issued by the credit card issuer or created by the account holder. A four-digit PIN can be created using the numbers 0-9 and can be any one of 10,000 combinations.³ That’s an impressive layer of security, provided that you keep your PIN secure. However, you’ll want to avoid writing it down somewhere as there’s a potential risk that someone could find it.

If your credit card is stolen, the thief cannot do a cash advance with your card without your PIN. Unfortunately, they can still make purchases at retail and grocery stores if you don’t report the card as stolen. Credit cards that are reported stolen may automatically be rejected when the cardholder tries to swipe them through a card reader.