More than a quarter of people do not know their bank card’s Pin by heart, a survey has found.

Some 29% of people do not know their Pin off the top of their head, financial services provider Sanlam UK found.

Around three-quarters (74%) of women claim to have their Pin memorised, compared with just over two-thirds (68%) of men.

The increasing popularity of contactless payments enables people to “tap and go” when buying lower value items without entering a Pin.

  • Under-35s - 57%
  • Over-55s - 21%

But those attempting contactless payments are sometimes still required to enter their Pin as an extra security measure to prove the purchase is legitimate.

Younger adults in particular were found to struggle to remember their Pin, with more than half (57%) of under-35s saying they found it hard to recall.

By contrast, only around a fifth (21%) of over-55s had difficulty remembering their Pin, according to the research, which formed part of Sanlam UK’s What’s Your Number? report.

People in London were the least likely in the survey to remember their Pin, with 51% not knowing it.

This was more than twice the proportion as those who lived in the North West of England (18%), Scotland (22%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (23%).

When it came to their finances, their Pin was not the only number shrouded in uncertainty, the survey of more than 1,000 people found.

When asked to identify which numbers are most important to remember, only in five (20%) think it is important to know their current account balance and 9% their savings account balance.

Only one in 20 (5%) of people think the contents of their pension pot are important numbers to know.

The same proportion, at 5%, also selected their lottery number as one of the most important numbers to know in their life.

Jonathan Polin, chief executive Sanlam UK, said: “Very quickly, we’ve become used to tapping our card for small items.

“While the convenience of this is clear, the temptation to spend is greater than it once was, and all too often this is at the expense of tomorrow.

“Our research has shown that it is easy to get distracted by immediate priories and fail to engage with long-term financial planning. But that’s dangerous.

“Knowing the number you need and want to achieve is not only desirable, it’s essential to making a plan that gives you the retirement you want.

“The key is in having a good grasp of your current state of finances and a clear idea of where you want to end up in order to understand the gap in between.”

Here are the percentages of people who do not know their bank card Pin off by heart:

– East Midlands – 23%
– East/East Anglia – 24%
– London – 51%
– North East – 26%
– North West – 18%
– Scotland – 22%
– South East – 27%
– South West – 30%
– Wales – 29%
– West Midlands – 28%
– Yorkshire and the Humber – 23%

– Northern Ireland survey sample size was too small for inclusion