Remembering a PIN while keeping it safe: What are some ways to keep track of a PIN without risking security?

Recalling a PIN in order to pay for groceries or take cash out at an ATM can be a stressful situation, but referring to a note with your PIN written down has its own risks, and could result in serious consequences in the event of a theft.

One option that might assist your clients is encouraging them to create a memory hint or mnemonic device for their PIN. The article “5 Ways to Remember Your PIN” by Gemalto offers a few examples to help someone remember their PIN, such as spelling a memorable word out of the numbers, or connecting the numbers to people they know.

Visual images or cues can also be effective for memorization. The article “Clever tricks to remember your passwords” from the Telegraph explains how bizarre imagery, image association or a visual story might be able to help someone remember their PIN.

If these memory hints are difficult to memorize for your clients, then they might want to try writing the hints down (but not the PIN) to help them remember. The hint should be decodable to only your client, such as writing down “my favourite books”, which would indicate to them “Lord of the Rings”, where the PIN is then L-O-T-R using the letters on the PIN pad.

As another security measure, the memory hint could be secured in a pocket of a bag or purse using a secure lock. Here are a few options to explore:

• Mini Padlock with Key by Masterlock (at Amazon Canada) is a small padlock that uses a key to unlock. This product costs about $30 (CDN) for four locks and keys.
• Mini Portable Fingerprint Bag Lock by Eseesmart (at Amazon Canada) is a small padlock that only requires the clients fingerprint to unlock, and is designed to be faster and more secure than using a key to unlock a padlock. This product costs about $40 (CDN) for a pair of two locks.

Although less secure than a note and padlock, another option that your client could explore is using a small voice recorder to playback the memory hint. The Talking Memo Watch by Lifemax (at The Braille Superstore) is a digital watch that records an individual’s voice and can playback the message at any time. The individual can record their memory hint (e.g. “my favourite books”) to remind them of their number and play it back when needed. This product costs about $15 (USD).