We tell you the reason why the automated teller machine (ATM) card pin code was restricted to 4 digits.
Generally, this question would arise in people’s minds why only four digits? Although higher numbers can make it more secure.
You may be surprised to know that the reason for limiting pin codes to four digits is a woman, and not just any woman but the wife of the man who invented the ATM.
The story is that more than 5 decades ago, a British inventor named John Shepard Barron came up with the idea of a machine that could make money instead of chocolates, so he came up with the idea of an automated teller machine.
He developed the machine and in 1967 the first ATM was installed in London, along with the development of the machine, John Sheppard came up with a solution to the customer security problem in the form of a PIN code.
John Sheppard made up the card’s pin code to be 6 digits with his old army number in mind, but his wife Caroline, working in the kitchen, said ‘I can only remember 4 digits.
It was because of Caroline that the 4-digit pin code became a global standard, meaning that Caroline’s poor memory made life easier for millions of people around the world.
